Lost Together
by Baroness-Faron
Summary: Over three hundred years after the events of PMD2 Explorers of Sky, Darkrai emerges from his time travel, his memory wiped clean. This could be the second chance he never asked for. (Eventual Hero/Darkrai. Past-Hero/Partner.)
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure about this?" Nikko asked, pawing at her Fire Stone nervously. "You know what'll happen if I become a Ninetales… I don't know if I could handle living for a thousand years…" She bit her lip, frowning over at her partner.

The Vulpix and Skitty had agreed to finally evolve together. After years of the Luminous Spring rejecting them, they were finally allowed to become as big and strong as they always wanted. The two had gone out to find the exceedingly rare Fire Stone and Moonstone required for their evolution, and now, standing just before the shallow blue waters of the Luminous Spring, Nikko was feeling apprehensive about the whole thing.

When she first heard of Ninetales having an extremely long lifespan, she hadn't thought much of it. It sounded like a logical improvement, to get a bonus like that from evolution sounded like a given in her mind. But when she learnt that when her partner Hana evolved, she _wouldn't_ be getting any such bonus, Nikko became despondent.

Hana seemed much less worried about the whole thing. She smiled happily, baring her tiny fangs. "Don't worry about it, Nikko. It'll be fine, I promise." She comfortingly nuzzled Nikko's cheek with her own. "We'll always be together, no matter what. Plus, with you as a Ninetales and me as a Delcatty, we'll be stronger than ever!"

She gripped her Moonstone with her tail, waving it around teasingly. "I'll go first! Then you'll have to evolve too, because you'll look like a pretty unimpressive leader with such a _tall_ and _graceful_ Delcatty as your partner!"

With that, Hana giggled, stepping into the water. She stood under the single spot of sunlight that shone through the crown of trees. Nikko frowned worriedly, trying not to rush out there to stop her partner from doing this. It felt like Hana was taking this too lightly. Was she really perfectly fine with her partner outliving her by hundreds of years?

A voice suddenly rang out from somewhere. It echoed mysteriously through the clearing, dancing through the air like a breath of wind. No matter how many teammates Nikko saw evolve here, the voice never ceased to wrack her body with shivers. It felt all too reserved and too intimate at the same time.

 _You... who seeks awakening… This is Luminous Spring. Do you seek a new evolution?_

Hana squirmed excitedly. "Yes! I do!" She stared up at the sky as if expecting to find the source of the voice there. The trees rustled in the breeze. The whole area seemed to grow darker, and the air suddenly went still. The rustling ceased.

 _Do you require an item to evolve?_

"Yep! I have the moonstone required to evolve into Delcatty!"

 _You… Who seeks awakening... Let us begin._

Hana turned around to face Nikko, splashing through the water. Her front paws laid atop the moonstone. The Skitty smiled at her partner, her squinted eyes upturned as Nikko took in her soft pink appearance for the last time. Nikko held her breath. Hana's body flashed in a few short bursts of light, making Nikko flinch and shut her eyes.

When the light faded, the Vulpix blinked and gaped at the much larger form that stood before her. Hana blinked too, her eyes suddenly wide and shimmering. Her pink spots were replaced with soft lavender fur and her tail resembled a tulip instead of foxtail grass. She had a cushioning ruff around her neck. Most of all, though, she was beautiful.

 _You shall return if evolution is what you seek…_

The breeze returned, the darkness waned, and life returned to the clearing. Hana seemed breathless for a moment, her mouth slightly agape as she stared back at Nikko. She peered down into her reflection at her feet, blinking incredulously at the sight. But then the moment was over, and she grinned excitedly, baring her larger, more fully developed fangs. Hana bounded towards her partner, flinging water everywhere as she began running circles around the small Vulpix. "Look at me! I'm so tall! And my eyes are so big!" She laughed with relief, stopping to stand in front of Nikko. "You look so small now, haha!"

Nikko collected herself enough to respond. "Y-yeah… you look so... different." Hana grinned as if that was the greatest compliment she had ever received. "Thank you! I _feel_ different too!" The Delcatty smiled, happily squinting her eyes the same way Nikko was familiar with. The sight calmed her nerves a little.

"You gotta try it, it's your turn now!" Hana said lightly, as if there was nothing to it.

Nikko sighed. "I dunno… I mean… What about you?"

The question seemed to confuse the excitement out of Hana, the pokemon pausing for a moment and tilting her head. "What _about_ me?" She asked with a confused smile.

Nikko frowned down at her fire stone. "It's just… What'll I do without you? When you grow old and I'm still..." She choked on her own words. She couldn't even say it.

Hana finally seemed to come down from her high, and she crouched down in the grass to be more level with her partner. "I didn't realize you were this freaked out about outgrowing me." Nikko shrugged helplessly.

Hana hummed in thought. "I thought you would've been excited about being able to live for a long time. Most pokemon don't get such a chance, and humans definitely don't live that long. I thought you were happy you were lucky enough to become a Vulpix."

Nikko nodded with a worried frown. "I was excited, at first. But the more I think about it, the less and less I want to live for so long… especially in a world without you."

Hana blushed and chuckled lightly. "I had to live for a few months without you, y'know. They were the hardest months of my life." She frowned sadly at the recollection. "So I understand your hesitance… But," She smiled again, lifting Nikko's face to look up at her, "I want you to live as long as you can. I don't ever want to live in a world without you in it. Never again. And honestly, I think the world wants you in it just as much as I do."

Nikko smiled sadly. Hana grinned victoriously. "Plus! I still got quite a few years left in me! You can't get rid of me that easily!"

Nikko laughed. Well, who knew what the future held. Who knew how many times they'd need to save the world before the world finally beat them instead. Maybe Nikko's new lifespan wouldn't matter at all.

When the two left the Luminous Spring that day, Nikko had three more tails than she was used to.

* * *

Nikko busied herself with work every minute she was awake. Not that that was much different from her days with Hana, but now she was much more focused, more reserved, more distant. Nikko was now three hundred and fifty years old, and Team Moonlight was still going strong.

Though the only original members that were left of the team was her and the few legendaries that they had recruited back in the day. This included, most specifically, Manaphy. Apart from them, the team was filled with both young and old pokemon from various generations. The youngest member was a newly hatched Mawile that Nikko had taken upon herself to train.

The team had evolved into a guild of its own, located a long ways away from Treasure town. Nikko had felt pained to leave her old life behind, but it felt good to not be haunted by that fated beach, or the empty wigglytuff guild, or the sharpedo bluff. It felt good to reestablish the team, to move into a more convenient place for newer explorations. The Moonlight Guild grew and changed with the times, as pokemon came and went either by developing their own independent teams or by growing too old to explore anymore.

Nikko had employed Manaphy as her right hand, which was perfectly fine with them. The two of them mourned Hana together, the loss of a mother and partner was something neither could fully move on from. Manaphy's presence was a comfort that Nikko would always hold near and dear to her heart. She thanked the gods that at least she wouldn't need to suffer through the loss of her child. Manaphys lived much longer than a thousand years.

Nikko was always busy, but that came naturally. Her job was over encompassing, and often she was unable to explore for months on end. But recently she had gotten used to finding excuses to go out on explorations. As of now, her excuse was training Mawile, since the young pokemon was powerful and promising.

Nikko wanted to guide her in the right direction, but more than anything else, Nikko wanted to distract herself. She wanted to busy her mind with anything that brought substance into her life again. Raising a child always managed to tear her from the cage that was her own mind. It was good for her to not close herself off for too long.

So the Ninetales took Mawile to Foreboding Forest. Nikko lead the exploration, as she usually did. Mawile followed closely behind, while Manaphy trailed behind in case of ambushes. The three had gone on many easy training explorations before, but today was supposed to be more of a challenge. Mawile seemed off put by the places name, and she was right to; the pokemon that resided there were always surprisingly powerful. But Nikko was not disappointed, watching with approval as Mawile managed to take down a Beedrill.

She'd never let Mawile get seriously hurt of course, she would fend off any pokemon that were too strong for the child, and she had an escape orb in her bag just in case.

Mawile dusted off her hands and approached the two victoriously. "I did it! I told you it would be a piece of cake!" Mawile put her hands on her hips and seemed to radiate pride. Manaphy chuckled and grinned slyly. "Didn't look that easy to me. You think you could take on two Beedrill at once?" Mawile paled. "U-uh, well I don't-"

Mawile was cut off as the sound of a loud shwooosh! that burst through the clearing. Mawile screamed and quickly scrambled to hide behind Nikko's back. Manaphy and Nikko stood to attention, alarmed by the odd sound. The two peered around with narrowed, alert eyes.

The noise was familiar somehow… Nikko blinked in realization. It was a sound she didn't think she'd ever hear again. A Dimensional Hole.

On the far end of the clearing, A dark blue and purple wormhole tore itself open with another screech. For a moment Nikko thought the hole was broken somehow. Nothing emerged and the screeching didn't stop, instead it grew louder. But as the sound crescendo-ed, Nikko realized that it was actually a scream of pain.

"AAAAAA _AAAAHHHHHH!"_

There was a flash and a dark figure was flung out of the Dimensional Hole. The pokemon's body hit the ground roughly, churning up dirt and flinging grass everywhere. The Dimensional Hole immediately shattered behind the fallen pokemon, erupting with the sound of broken glass.

Silence followed, the calm rustling of the wind in the trees being the only sound. If there were any hostile pokemon around, the sound had either shocked them still, or scared them off. Nikko stared with wide eyes at the blackened body lying a few meters before her, clearly unconscious.

Manaphy was the first to speak. "Wh-... what was that?" Mawile poked her head out from behind Nikko's hind legs, with her arms wrapped around one of them. "Y-yeah! Is it... dangerous?"

Nikko narrowed her eyes, anger flooding through her as she continued to analyse the fallen pokemon. If this was who she thought it was…

"Stay back. Let me handle this." Using two of her tails, Nikko picked up Mawile and placed her behind Manaphy's back. She didn't look away from the fallen pokemon for even a second. "I'll explain once I know it's safe."

Manaphy nodded, reaching back to hold Mawile against them. She cowered nervously, peeking over Manaphy's head at Nikko as the Ninetales slowly approached the knocked-out pokemon.

Nikko stared down at the pokemon, her eyes narrowed viciously. He was lying on his face, and his white billowing hair was so burnt it looked more like a dark grey, but the identity of the pokemon was undeniable. She was hit with so much anger all at once that she had to hold back the instinct to scream.

Darkrai had apparently decided to travel over three hundred years into the future in hopes of avoiding any more contact with Nikko and Hana. Palkia's attack had done its job, though. And since Nikko was here, despite his attempt to escape her, she knew what she had to do.

This monster… he thought he could destroy the world and just escape the consequences? Well he was right here, and he was in perfect condition for Nikko to take him out once and for all.

"What's the situation?" Manaphy called out, their voice serious and stony.

Nikko blinked out of her thoughts. She couldn't kill him here, not in front of Mawile.

The thought of bringing him back to her guild made disgust twist in her gut, but she definitely wasn't going to just leave him here. Even if Palkia's hypothesis was correct, and Darkrai _had_ lost his memory, Nikko wasn't going to take any chances with him going back to his old evil plans.

"It's safe. He's out cold and I know from... _experience..._ that he's not going to be waking up anytime soon." Nikko said, turning and eyeing her teammates. "That thing that he came out of is called a Dimensional Hole. It's for time travel."

Manaphy blinked in shock and quickly approached, Mawile following in fear of being left behind. "Time travel! Wh-when did this guy come from? Do you know who he is?" Manaphy asked. Nikko remembered Hana once telling the water-type about the ordeal with Darkrai. She wondered if they would remember.

"It's Darkrai." She said, unable to keep the venom from her voice as she said his name.

Manaphy's mouth fell open. "Y-you mean the guy who tried to destroy the world twice?"

" _What!?_ " Mawile yelped, and hid behind Manaphy's back fearfully.

Nikko shook her head, "we'll talk about this later. For now we need to get him back to the guild. We can't do anything about him with Mawile here."

Manaphy nodded knowingly. "Yeah… We should try and contact Cresselia. She'll know what to do about him."

Nikko hummed, grimly peering down at Darkrai's collapsed form. She had no intentions of alerting Cresselia. It would be much easier to take him out as quickly and quietly as possible. He didn't deserve a judge or a jury.

Crouching down, Nikko managed to wiggle under his body and lift Darkrai onto her back. Manaphy helped stabilize him, and once Nikko was as comfortable as she could be, Manaphy used their escape orb. The team immediately vanished from the dungeon.

* * *

Darkrai was softly let down on Nikko's hay bed. Nikko's room was exclusive to only her and those she permitted to enter. A bonus of being a guildmaster was extra privacy, and there were very few times she was more grateful for such a luxury than right now. The apprentices were much too curious about the knocked out newcomer she brought home, and she needed them to stay out of this. Not to mention that Nikko didn't want Mawile to be anywhere near Darkrai.

He hadn't stirred once since he arrived in their time period, and for that Nikko was thankful. Manaphy stood at her side and stared at him thoughtfully, their arms crossed. "I don't quite remember what happened to him. He tried to time travel and Palkia attacked him?"

Nikko nodded, her eyes as hard as stone. "Yes. Palkia suggested that he could have lost his memory, like I did when Darkrai did the same thing to me. I was comfortable despite not knowing when he'd be, since I knew he'd be injured and lost. I was... not expecting to ever see him again."

Manaphy furrowed their brow. "What do we do if he lost his memory?"

It was left unspoken, but both of them knew what they would do if he didn't.

"...Do we risk him turning out the same as before? Grovyle... he told me that I was... still the same person, despite forgetting everything. I didn't really lose who I was, just the memories." Nikko sighed, sitting down heavily.

Her shoulders had felt heavy for decades now, the weight of everything weighing down on her painfully. She was good at ignoring it, but Darkrai being here forced her to remember. Forced her to remember Grovyle, and Hana, and everything that had happened. Everything she had lost. She struggled to breath.

Manaphy seemed to sense her exhaustion. They put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I've never killed someone before... but I don't think you're in the right condition to do it. So if we have to… I'll do it."

Nikko chuckled weakly. "I appreciate it, but… I couldn't put such a weight on you." She didn't look at her child, instead staring down at Darkrai.

His form had seemed so much bigger when she was a Vulpix. He didn't seem quite so large now. The scarred, scorched flesh did nothing to help his appearance. He barely resembled the powerful, intimidating monster he was last she saw him; now he looked weak and helpless, and for some reason Nikko couldn't help but imagine him washed up on a beach, lost in a time he knew nothing about and with nothing to grasp onto but his own name.

The thought made bile build up in her throat. She struggled to hide her grimace.

He was _nothing like her._

Before the two could say any more, Darkrai groaned. Nikko jumped visibly, and seeing her so on edge made Manaphy quickly shift into a defensive stance, ready for an attack.

The dark-type sighed, scrunching up his eyes in pain. "Urgh…" He tried to lift a hand up to rub at his head, but he was too weak and it fell limply back onto the hay. He groaned again, twisting and turning in agony, trying to find a comfortable position to lay in. Nikko had half a mind to kick him, just to see if he had the energy to yelp.

She pushed down her anger and took a deep breath. Stepping closer, she leaned over him and narrowed her eyes. "Hello? Are you ok?" She asked softly, trying to sound as kind as possible. There was no replicating Hana's panicked concern when she had found Nikko collapsed in the sand, but she was trying.

"Uhg… wh…" He squinted his eyes open, blinking up at Nikko blearily. "Where…?"

Nikko had to stifle a wave of hatred at the sound of his voice. She was honestly surprised that over all these years she had managed to fester such a hatred for him. When he revealed all the things he had done, she had been too shocked to really feel anything about him. But after all this time, something had managed to fester. It was dark and angry and it threatened to lash out at any moment.

And yet, Nikko could not force herself to retreat away from the feeling. No matter how ugly and concerning the emotion was, she would not leave Manaphy to take care of this. Darkrai had ruined her past life by paralyzing the world, had been responsible for separating her and Grovyle and destroying her memory, for everything. He was her responsibility now.

"What's your name? What happened to you?" She asked kindly, her voice so sickeningly fake that Manaphy bit their lip uncomfortably.

Darkrai seemed to be in too much pain to analyse how sincere her words were, as he only stared quietly back at her. She could see the cogs turning in his mind, and could tell before he even said anything that Palkia had been right. He had amnesia.

"D-Darkrai… I think that was my name… but I… I can't… remember… anything else…" He muttered weakly, once again trying to cradle his injuries with his arms, but was too weak to even move them.

Manaphy hummed. "What do we do now?" They asked softly.

Nikko didn't respond. She only stared back into Darkrai's eyes, analyzing him for any glimpse of a lie or maliciousness. All she saw was pain and confusion. She sighed. "Go get some healing items."

Manaphy compiled without question, but Nikko could see concern and unease on their face.

Something made her want to know how far this amnesia went. She wanted to know how evil he still was, how dangerous he still could be. She couldn't be sure, but… it was possible that the pokemon she hated with every fibre of her being... was already dead.

She wasn't sure what she'd do if that was the case. Did Darkrai deserve to die for crimes he didn't remember committing? _Dusknoir_ would have said 'yes' to that. But she wasn't him, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do what Dusknoir would've done. She shivered angrily at the very thought.

Manaphy returned with a handful of oran berries and a heal seed. "This'll probably do the trick," they said quietly.

"Thank you," Nikko replied, taking an oran berry from them and pressing it to Darkrai's face. "Eat this. It'll make you feel better."

Darkrai blinked up at her in confusion, his eyes wide with surprise. He eyed the berry curiously, and Nikko could see that his vision was clouding. He would faint again soon if he didn't comply. Luckily for him, he did. After a few moments, the pain and exhaustion in his face seemed to fade a little.

Finally he could move his hands to brace his head, and he groaned, much more aware of himself now. One hand pressed against the ground as he tried to push himself into a seated position. Nikko managed to force herself to help, stepping closer to help lift his back from the hay bed. Once he was somewhat comfortably sitting up, Nikko stepped back. Darkrai eyed the room inquisitively.

"...Where am I?" He asked, spying the treasure chest of priceless items in the corner and the hay bed that he was sitting on. The room was lit by a few raised candles, and he seemed fascinated by their flickering.

Manaphy spoke up. "You're at the Moonlight Guild. We, uh… we found you knocked out in Foreboding Forest, and decided to bring you here to make sure you were alright. Do you remember what happened?"

Darkrai turned to the small water-type and blinked at them. He hesitated for a long moment, trying to recall anything about what happened. "... No. I… I don't remember anything at all…" He frowned worriedly. "I… I don't know what happened." He peered down at his hands, analyzing his claws as if they'd somehow have the answer.

Nikko hummed. "Give him the heal seed and some more oran berries. I'll be right back." And with that she was gone, disappearing through the wooden door to her room.

This was worrying. _Very_ worrying. She didn't think Darkrai was safe to keep around, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to kill him.

The way he was… he was suffering the same fate he put her through. Didn't he deserve that? To know how awful it felt to be completely lost, alone and afraid in an unfamiliar world?

But it wasn't just that. If she were to keep Darkrai around, she knew she'd have to contact Cresselia at some point. The legendary didn't live in the guild with them, as she had formed her own team separate from team Moonlight. Cresselia was still an ally of course, and Nikko knew she'd be here in a flash if she knew that Darkrai had returned.

But… Nikko knew that she'd try and take control over the situation. Cresselia always did. She was very controlling, always wanting to be the one coming up with the plans and the one overlooking those who played it out. She would tell Nikko what to do about Darkrai and she would take responsibility for Darkrai's fate. Nikko didn't want to share that responsibility.

She deserved to have control over what happened to him. He had singled _her_ out. He had ruined her world, tried to assassinate her and then tried to drive her to kill herself. Cresselia might've known him better, but _Nikko_ was the one he had wronged the most. If Cresselia was to know about this, then it would be after Nikko decided what to do with him.

Right now though, Nikko needed to tell the guild members what was happening. She could hear them whispering through the walls, and now that she had stepped out into the main foyer of the guild, they were all watching her curiously. A few seasoned apprentices approached her and asked, "who's that strange pokemon that you carried into the guild?" "Did something happen?"

She stood up tall and addressed the apprentices as a group. "The pokemon we brought home was badly injured. He seems to be suffering from amnesia. We haven't yet decided on what to do, but he poses no threats to us as he is."

The apprentices started to talk amongst themselves, arguing about whether they should welcome him into their ranks or not. Mawile was silent from her corner of the room, and continued to stare at Nikko with a hint of fear in her eyes. Nikko urged her over with a wave of her head.

Mawile slowly approached, her head down as she fiddled with her hands. "That pokemon's really bad, isn't he?" She mumbled, eyeing Nikko anxiously. Nikko sighed.

"Yes. Or rather, he _was_ bad. I'm not sure what to do with him now that he's forgotten who he was." Nikko spoke softly so nobody but Mawile could hear her. Mawile looked down as she considered this.

"W-well if he's forgot, then that means he can be good, right?" She peered up at the Ninetales with hesitant curiosity in her eyes. Nikko hummed. "I'm... not sure. He was very bad, Mawile. He might still be, and I don't know if it would be good to help him."

Mawile frowned. "Oh…"

Nikko sighed. The child wasn't old enough to fully understand the situation. But Nikko could understand why she seemed so conflicted. The child was afraid of him, but she had also seen how injured he was. She hadn't seen him at his most powerful- at his worst. Mawile was compassionate, even if she didn't fully understand who she was giving that compassion to. Nikko was glad to see that.

"Go back to your room, Mawile. You can relax for the rest of today." Nikko said gently, and the steel-type nodded. Nikko turned and made her way back to her room, thinking deeply about her decision. Without Hana here, she knew that this was all up to her. Nikko tried to figure out what Hana would've chosen... but she honestly didn't know.

Still… she knew what she was going to do. If things went well enough, she would try and rehabilitate Darkrai.

Re-entering her bedroom, Nikko was relieved to see Darkrai still sitting on her bed. Manaphy had only one oran berry left. Darkrai seemed to lighten up with her return, interest in his eyes. "Hello...!"

Manaphy smiled at her awkwardly. "I, uh, was just telling Darkrai about our guild, and how you're the guildmaster. He doesn't seem to, um… recall anything at all about his past."

' _Good._ ' Nikko thought. She wasn't sure how she felt about telling him who they were, but if they were to avoid his suspicion, it would be best that they try to avoid keeping anything too obvious from him.

"Well, we'd be happy to let you stay with us if you have nowhere else to go." Nikko said respectfully.

Darkrai deflated a little at that, but he appeared to try and hide it. Curious. "Oh, yeah… I don't remember if I had any friends or family to stay with… I hope nobody is worrying about me."

' _Don't worry. Nobody is._ ' Nikko thought spitefully. Outwardly, she smiled. "Well don't you worry about a thing. I'm sure our guild's members will he happy to have you. We'll take care of you for as long as you need."

Darkrai smiled at her. "Thank you... I'm glad I have someone to help me figure this out."

Nikko blinked. That was... unexpected.

* * *

Nikko didn't feel comfortable putting Darkrai in a room with the apprentices. He was still powerful despite his lack of memory, and they still hadn't confirmed whether his dark personality had managed to survive the amnesia. Nikko was sure he could still be sadistic and cruel, even without the history to back it up.

Not to mention his… ability. She knew from experience that Bad Dreams was a particularly nasty ability to deal with.

So Darkrai had been given his own room, as close to Nikko's room as possible.

"In case you need me, you'll be staying in the room closest to mine." Nikko explained, leading the still weakened legendary out of her room.

He held onto her back as he struggled to lift himself from the bed, unknowingly making her shiver in disgust at the feeling of his claws against her fur. He discovered with amazement that he had legs, and shakily stood on them, too weak to hover.

Darkrai blinked in amazement as they walked through the guild. He had never seen anything besides her room since he lost his memory, after all. Nikko tried to ignore how much his curious gazes reminded her of her young self. He was nothing like her. He brought this upon himself.

A small group of apprentices- a Nidorina, Shellos and Roselia- approached as the two travelled to Darkrai's new room, the youngsters excitedly trying to get a glimpse of the new guy.

"He's spooky-looking!" Roselia said with a giggle. "Yeah! What type is he? I've never seen a pokemon like him!" Shellos said with a tilt of his head. "He looks like a ghost!" Nidorina chirped. Darkrai raised an eyebrow, pausing to peer down at them. "Huh?"

"Actually, he's a pure dark-type. Now get to bed, there's roll call in the morning." Nikko said distractedly. She shooed them off with her tails, and they complied with groans of annoyance. "I just wanted to meet him!" "Can we at least know his name?"

"No." Nikko growled. "We'll introduce him to everyone during roll call, tomorrow alright? Now go." That seemed to do the trick, and the small group finally dispersed.

Nikko and Darkrai reached the room and Nikko held the door open as the dark-type stumbled inside. Unbeknownst to him, the room previously belonged to Manaphy, but the water-type agreed to let him have their room for safety's sake. Manaphy would move to sleep in Nikko's room in the meantime instead.

Darkrai plopped heavily onto the bed with a groan, his thin legs weak and disoriented. Even after eating so many recovery items, it would take a few days before he was in tip-top shape again. Nikko was thankful for that. She didn't need him getting any ideas about leaving.

"Nikko?" Darkrai said, eyeing her in a way that definitely looked like he was analyzing her. She tilted her head wordlessly in response, uncomfortable with the sudden intrigue. "Why are you helping me?" He asked softly.

Nikko furrowed her brows, hoping that she looked genuinely confused. Darkrai sighed. "I mean… you don't know me. I dunno, it's just that if I… if I saw some random pokemon knocked out in the middle of nowhere, I definitely wouldn't just… take them home and help them."

Nikko wondered what he was implying by saying that. Did he know he was dangerous?

"Are you saying I shouldn't have helped you?" Nikko asked lightly.

Darkrai shook his head frantically. " _No!_ No that's not what I… I mean- it's just that… It's so nice of you? I don't… I don't think I'm… very nice, I guess." His eyes fell to his hands as he wrung them nervously. "Something about this feels odd, like… I dunno, I just feel like I'm… doing something wrong here."

Ah. There it was. The darkness inside him had indeed not been eradicated. But, it had been forgotten enough for Darkrai to see no harm in opening up to her about it. He was already figuring out that there was something cruel and selfish deep down inside him. Without proper guidance, Nikko knew he'd just go down the same path of villainy again.

She wouldn't let that happen. He would either die, or learn to be a good person. There would be no alternatives.

"Darkrai…" She said, trying to choose her words as carefully as possible. "I helped you because that's what explorers do. We help others. It's just a part of the job."

Darkrai frowned. "I don't have anything to pay you with. Or- I mean… I don't know if I do."

Nikko shook her head, stepping closer and making him look up at her. "Well I... Listen. At first... that was the only reason I saved you. But when I realized that you had lost your memory, I decided that I would take you in. I'll take care of you, no matter what. No payment required."

Darkrai blinked at her in wonder. She could see how hard it was for him to comprehend such kindness. "Wh-why..?"

"Because I've been through the _exact same thing._ "

Darkrai's eyes practically bulged out of his head. He stared at her in amazement. "R-really? You lost your memory too? When?"

Nikko laughed bitterly. "A couple hundred years ago, now. Forgot absolutely everything... and never got anything back."

Darkrai seemed stunned into silence. He blinked incredulously at her, before looking down at his hands again. Nikko could see the gears turning in his head.

"So… I'll continue to help you. Because I know what it's like to be in your position." Nikko continued, and Darkrai's gaze rose to look back at her. "I had a good friend with me, to help find a new life for myself. It wasn't easy, but having somebody who's there for you makes things so much more bearable. I'll be that friend for you. I'll help you all that I can."

Darkrai continued to be silent. The silence stretched on for so long that Nikko wondered if Darkrai somehow remembered her. She wasn't up for fighting him; she didn't have her treasure bag on her. But if she had to, she would take him down.

Instead of announcing his recovered memory (or revealing that he had never lost it in the first place), Darkrai peered up at her hesitantly. "...even if you never got memories back, did you ever… get deja-vu, or intuition, or something... about your past?"

Nikko hummed. "I suppose. Very rarely, though. It was only ever about the most important things. Like past goals dancing just out of reach."

Darkrai nodded. "I think I'm getting that right now. And it's… scary."

Nikko narrowed her eyes. "Why's that?"

"I feel like… I was bad. Really bad..."

Nikko frowned. This was the moment of reckoning. "Do you still want to be bad?"

Darkrai paused, looking away. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, trying to figure out whether his intuition was something he wanted to follow or not. "I don't know."

"That's not enough." Nikko replied, trying her hardest not to let a growl slip into her voice. Keep calm… Make him feel wanted… "I can't endanger the members of my guild, Darkrai. I want to help you, but... do you want to be helped?"

Darkrai blinked at her, wide eyed and lost. "I… I want your help."

"So you will be good."

"...Okay."

Nikko sighed, relief drifting onto her face. She made the point of smiling at him, and he brightened up considerably at the sight. "Don't worry. If you need any guidance, I will always be here."

Darkrai beamed. "Thank you," he breathed, "I'll try my best."

Nikko didn't think she'd ever get used to that.


	2. Chapter 2

_"The world of darkness will be beautiful, Nikko." The emotionless look on Hana's face made Nikko's skin crawl. How could this be happening? Hana had grown to be so brave. How could she try to find the cowardly way out now of all times?_

 _"Please join us, Nikko," Hana frowned, sadness and fear washing over her face. "He won't want just me."_

 _The thought of losing Hana, it was just too much. Nikko couldn't lose her... but was it really worth dooming the world over?_

 _"Nikko...?"_

 _The Vulpix shut her eyes, unable to watch her partner betray her like this. "No... I can't do it..."_

 _It was too much. She couldn't handle being alone like this... But she couldn't... just couldn't..._

 _Darkrai laughed, throwing his head back in malicious joy. He had won. Nikko couldn't beat him on her own... He had won..._

 _"Darkrai! I won't let you get away with this!" Nikko jumped, realizing that Cresselia was still at her side. The legendary stared down Darkrai with an unbreaking resolve to end him. Nikko wasn't alone after all..? "This is just-! Just a-!"_

 _Nightmare._

* * *

Nikko gasped awake, her eyes flinging open and her heart racing in her ribcage.

For a moment she just laid there, getting her bearings. That was not a nightmare she was used to having. Darkrai had never been an undefeatable presence in her mind ever since taking him down. He had been defeated, and no matter how much she hated him, and no matter how despicable he was, Nikko was not afraid of him.

Nikko was apparently in close enough proximity to Darkrai for his Bad Dreams to register. She hoped dearly that he wasn't affecting anyone else.

Nikko didn't like remembering that moment. It was the first time Nikko was faced with the prospect of losing Hana forever. It had been so unbearably painful of an idea... and now Hana was gone.

Nikko sighed, moving to sit up in her bed. Manaphy slept a few meters away in their own bed, tossing and turning silently. Nikko frowned sadly, quickly getting up in hopes of waking them. She and Hana had seen Manaphy have nightmares when the water type was still very young. It always hurt to see her child so miserable, even though they weren't a baby anymore.

"Manaphy? Sweetie, are you alright?"

She shook them with her paw, and they jumped awake. "Ah!" After a pause, Manaphy groaned, shifting into a sitting position. "I haven't had any nightmares since... forever. Of course I have one now."

"That's no coincidence. Darkrai's ability is unique to him. It's called Bad Dreams, where any nearby sleeping pokemon will be plagued with nightmares." Nikko said tiredly, sitting down on her bed heavily.

Manaphy raised an eyebrow. "So he's tormenting us? Didn't you say he was going to try to be good?"

Nikko shook her head with a sigh. "Its an automatic ability. He can't control it. I can only hope that he isn't affecting the apprentices. We don't need them exhausted for tomorrow."

Manaphy hummed to themself thoughtfully. "This is ending up more troublesome than I initially thought. He'll always pose a problem for those around him. It's in his nature." Manaphy crossed their arms, frowning worriedly. "We may need to take him out after all..."

Nikko shook her head. "We don't know that yet. We're going to contact Cresselia tomorrow morning."

Manaphy blinked in surprise. "We are?" Nikko nodded. "Well, that's good." Manaphy concluded. "She can get rid of nightmares, that's her thing. It'll be better for everyone once she's here. Plus, she knows him best."

Nikko nodded again, unable to bring herself to say anything about that. For some reason, she really didn't want to get Cresselia involved. Her lunar wings would be useful, but Cresselia could ruin the perfectly good lie they had going on with Darkrai. Cresselia wasn't the best at lying.

And... for some reason Nikko really wanted to have Darkrai to herself. He was her responsibility, and hers alone. But her nightmare had told her one thing: she couldn't do this by herself. And if she didn't have Hana, Cresselia was the only other one who truly knew what was going on.

Once roll call was over, Manaphy went off to fetch Darkrai. As the dark-type was brought before the apprentices, gasps rang out amongst them. He towered over everyone as he stood next to Nikko, blinking down curiously at the pokemon gathered. There wasn't even a speck of nerves in his eyes at being the center of attention.

The Pokemon gathered began whispering between themselves, and Nikko caught pieces of conversations. She got the gist; many seemed to think he looked very untrustworthy and, not to mention, very powerful. She heard a few wonder what type of pokemon he was supposed to be. One mentioned not feeling comfortable if they needed to work alongside him.

"Now, now, settle down everyone." Nikko said, waving her tails warningly. Everyone immediately quieted down, eyes returning to her.

"This is Darkrai. We found him knocked out in the forest and discovered that he has amnesia. He will be staying with us for the time being, as he has nowhere else to go. Do try to be polite. And in case you were all _wondering..._ " The apprentices all flinched together, already feeling chastised for their thoughtless murmurings. "He is not here to join our ranks. He is simply our guest, and shall be treated as such. Dismissed."

The group immediately dispersed, not wanting to get on her bad side for disobeying. Despite this, Nikko could see many of them hesitating and eyeing Darkrai warily. A few even looked suspicious, perhaps believing that he had something up his sleeve. ' _Good,'_ Nikko thought, ' _they know a villain when they see one.'_

Darkrai stood at her side, unmoving. He seemed lost and unsure of what to do with himself. Nikko suppressed a sigh.

"Manaphy, I trust you to write the letter to Cresselia?" Nikko asked, drooping her head a little to be more level with her child. Manaphy nodded. "Sure. I'll get Staravia to fly it to her, he's the fastest flier I know."

Nikko smiled, lifting her head with a nod. "That's a good idea. He'll reach Noe Town in no time."

Manaphy immediately departed, leaving Nikko alone with Darkrai. She turned to him, finding him to be looking around aimlessly. She plastered a smile on her face, tilting her head questioningly. "So... how about I show you around town?"

Darkrai's gaze rove over to her, and instead of the polite smile and nod that she expected, he frowned.

"Are you alright?" He asked, squinting at her leaning in a bit closer. "You look exhausted."

Nikko wasn't expecting him to notice. He had only known her for a day, for all he knew. How could he tell that she hadn't slept well? Could the apprentices see it too?

Her wide-eyed silence seemed to make Darkrai think that he had overstepped her boundaries. "I- It's just that you- you look like you haven't slept." He almost looked apologetic.

Nikko shook her head. "C'mon. I'll show you around town, we'll talk while we walk. Does that sound okay?" He hesitated, but ultimately nodded.

* * *

Baram Town was a quaint little place. It was larger than Treasure Town had been, with more developed buildings and businesses. Moonlight Guild wasn't the only guild in town, but Nikko preferred it that way. The competition required her to always be at the top of her game.

"As a result of your amnesia, I assume you forgot about your capabilities in battle," Nikko said, pausing to let Darkrai confirm or deny her assumption. He nodded, "yeah, but I think I could figure out my moves if I got the time to practice."

Nikko ignored the uneasy glances that the townspeople sent them as they strolled past. She was honestly surprised that nobody had aggressively approached them by now. She could only assume that her presence was enough of a reassurance to the townsfolk that he wouldn't be causing trouble.

Nikko hummed. "Well, I uhm... I researched your species last night, and-"

"-Is that why you didn't get any sleep?" Darkrai cut in worriedly. Nikko was surprised to see how upset he appeared to be at the thought of his presence being an inconvenience for her.

"I was getting to that. Darkrai have a special ability known as Bad Dreams. Any sleeping pokemon in the near vicinity of you will be plagued with terrible nightmares." Nikko eyed him closely, wanting to see whether he liked the sound of that or not.

All he did was furrow his brow thoughtfully. He said nothing.

The two walked quietly for a long time, the silence only breaking as Nikko occasionally pointed out different shops and services as they passed them by. The suspicious eyes never left the two of them, but not once were they confronted by anyone.

"This is the port. Large water pokemon often offer rides for pokemon hoping to travel to different continents." Nikko said softly, gesturing at the docks, which were lined with Lapras and a few other water pokemon.

"How many continents are there?" Darkrai asked softly.

"Five. Though there are innumerable amounts of other smaller islands all over the ocean. I've visited- and discovered- quite a lot of them." Nikko almost let herself succumb to all the memories, but Darkrai's presence made her too tense to daydream.

Darkrai could only manage a small, "...hm," in response. Nikko didn't like how quiet he was being. It made her hackles raise in discomfort.

Still, she outwardly brushed it off, turning the two of them around and bringing Darkrai along the shoreline. They walked across the beach in contemplative silence, the sun beating down at them heavily.

Nikko soaked in the sun as much as she could, loving the feeling and wishing she could lie in the sand and drowse off. It occurred to her that Darkrai might not like it nearly as much, but if it bothered him, he'd say something. She would let herself enjoy this. She hadn't granted herself the time to soak in the warmth of the sun in a long time.

After the two had walked a considerable distance, Darkrai stopped, hovering in place. Nikko turned around to raise an eyebrow at him. He looked thoroughly bothered by something, his hands clenched into fists and his narrowed eyes locked onto the sand at his feet.

"Darkrai? Is something wrong?"

"...I don't think I should stay here." Darkrai mumbled softly, shutting his eyes as if afraid to see her reaction.

"Why not?" Nikko asked gently, taking a step closer to him. He opened his eyes and frowned sadly down at her. Where was this coming from?

"I could see how everyone was looking at me. Suspicious and afraid... " He shook his head. "My ability... It hurt you. It could hurt everyone. And I... I think I _like_ it." He blinked rapidly, unable to meet her eyes anymore. "I don't want to like it."

Nikko blinked in surprise as he began to tremble. His voice shook as he spoke. "I'm scared. I'm bad. I don't want to be, but..." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I think it's in my nature. It has to be, there's no other explanation. So I can't stay here. I can't hurt you anymore than I already have."

Nikko stepped up to him wordlessly, enveloping him in her tails. The tails wrapped around his back and his arms, pulling him down into the sand. Darkrai didn't resist as he was settled onto the ground, and from this position, his face was level with hers. She gave him the most hardened look she could manage. "You're confused. You can't go making rash decisions when you barely even know who you are yet."

He was inclined to protest. "But I want to hurt people! When all those Pokemon were glaring at me, I- I wanted to attack them- wanted them to fear me- wanted to give them a _reason_ to be so suspicious of me. When you told me about my ability all I felt was- was excitement! I didn't like that I had hurt _you_ but... the thought of- of effortlessly giving others nightmares was..." He trailed off guiltily, diverting his gaze. "You've been so nice to me. I want to repay that kindness by not hurting you... but if I stay I don't think I'll be able to stop myself."

Nikko narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "You told me you wanted my help. In return, you said that you'd try to be good. I am still willing to uphold my end of the bargain. _Are you?"_

Darkrai hesitated, his shoulders slumping sadly.

He had no idea what powers her tails possessed. As far as he knew, she was simply embracing him; comforting him. That's exactly what she wanted him to think, but if he decided that it was better to go off and cause destruction elsewhere... Well, she wasn't going to let him hurt anyone else. He had done enough damage.

The curse was already waiting at her lips, her tails poised to strike. She hated cursing others, but this was not something she'd argue with him over. Nobody was getting hurt. Never again.

"I'm just afraid... that I won't be able to..." Darkrai whispered.

Nikko blinked in surprise, and her gaze softened. Her tails shifted over him, massaging him gently. She could feel his muscles relax under her touch. He let out a deep breath.

"I'll be there to stop you from hurting anyone. I'll help you learn how to use your abilities for good; I've known Pokemon with dream-related powers before." She found herself whispering intently, her eyes unwavering from his. He managed to look back up at her.

"...What if I'm too bad to be able to change? What if I'm too far gone already?"

Nikko managed a smile at that. "You're not. Trust me, I've met some real _villains_ in my life. I can see goodness in you. All you need to do is try."

Darkrai sighed, his gaze flickering around restlessly. Nikko could already read his answer in his eyes, could feel the lack of fight in his body from under her tails. He raised a hand to lightly pet one of them. She tensed, afraid that he would grab it.

But all he did was run his claws through her fur, a gentleness she knew his past self had no understanding of. For once, she had not been lying to him. He was already so much better. Maybe... just maybe... he could find a way to be good.

"Okay... I'll try," he breathed, looking back at her with more vulnerability than she had seen from anyone in decades. Something painful twisted in her heart.

Nikko smiled. "Good. Let's continue the tour, then, shall we?"

Darkrai managed a soft chuckle, "a-alright."

He stood away from her tails, but she could sense his reluctance to do so. Clearly he wanted nothing more than to be encircled in her tails for much longer still. She struggled to suppress a smug grin, before wondering why that was her immediate reaction.

Darkrai seemed lighter and more relaxed for the rest of the tour, but Nikko found herself anxiously worrying about what the future would hold. Oh, Hana... if you're out there somewhere, please promise me I'll never get attached to him.

* * *

When they got back to the guild, the apprentices had yet to return from their missions. Supper would still be in a few hours, so Nikko decided to teach Darkrai about his powers. She didn't exactly remember all his moves, but she remembered Darkrai's ability to manipulate dreams very well.

"Creating nightmares isn't the only thing you can do. You can view and control individual Pokemons' dreams into being whatever you want; whether that be a good dream or a nightmare." Nikko said matter-of-factly, already settling don't on her straw bed.

They had made their way back into Nikko's room, and now Darkrai was hovering over Manaphy's bed, paying close attention to her words.

"That's interesting. What kind of dream should I try to make?" He asked.

Nikko's tails curled around her body protectively as she found a comfortable position on her bed. Despite Darkrai's presence, she knew she wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep. She had refused to sleep last night after her nightmare, and a nap would do wonders for her. That is, if Darkrai used his powers correctly.

Nikko hummed, shutting her eyes. "Make something simple, like an open field. You know what those look like right?"

Darkrai nodded hesitantly. "I think so."

"Good. Make sure both of us are there."

"Alright..." Darkrai paused. "You wouldn't have any tips on how I should start, would you?"

Nikko sighed, lifting her head from the straw and opening her eyes. "No... I assume you'll figure it out if I give you the time to test it. It'll come naturally. My powers came naturally to me."

Darkrai wrung his hands nervously. "What if I mess something up and hurt you?"

Nikko shrugged, lying back down and getting ready to sleep. "Then we'll try again until you get it right."

Silence stretched over the two of them as Nikko slowly drifted off to sleep. It felt odd knowing that he was watching her fall asleep, but this was the only way. She didn't think he would be able to manage waking nightmares quite yet. Plus, she wasn't very keen on having him know how to do that, at least not yet. There was only so much power she could let him have before he was trustworthy.

Nikko sighed softly. She wasn't going to get to sleep with all this thinking. She forcefully made her mind quiet down, and in a matter of minutes, she was out.

* * *

 _"MUAHAHAHAHA!" Darkrai laughed, towering over Nikko and Hana as they struggled back to their feet. Nikko glared viciously at him, but she barely had any fight left in her after their fight._

 _He had them outnumbered, and for the life of her Nikko couldn't figure out how he could have any goons at all, let alone so many. She was weakened- and they were out of items- and nothing they did seemed to hurt him at all and-_

 _"Nikko?" Darkrai blinked down at her in astonishment. Nikko frowned up at him, wondering where all his spiteful glee had gone._

 _And then, in that moment, Nikko remembered what was going on._

 _Hana, Cresselia, and all of Darkrai's goons faded away into nothingness, leaving the two of them alone in the Dark Crater._

 _Nikko was still a Vulpix. She stood, the pain and torment that had been coursing through her had evaporated along with everyone else, and she stood tall. For a moment she wanted to glare at him for that nightmare, but he seemed to have taken control of it pretty quickly. She was no longer in pain, she was no longer panicking. He was doing a good job so far._

 _"Why do you look like that?" Darkrai asked, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head. He looked so much bigger when she was like this, and it was an uncomfortable reminder of who he used to be. So large, so imposing, so powerful, so evil. She needed to crane her neck to look him in the eye._

 _"This is what I looked like when I was very young." Nikko waved her six tails with interest. It felt odd to have so few. That thought made sorrow wash over her. She had been a Ninetales for far too long._

 _Darkrai hummed affirmingly. "I see... How do I make you look like_ you? _"_

 _Nikko scoffed, but tried to reign in her contempt at his words. "I don't know. Maybe try changing the scenery first?"_

 _Darkrai looked around, curiously acknowledging the Dark Crater for the first time. "What is this place?"_

 _Nikko shrugged it off the best she could. "It's... just a place I'm not too keen on remembering."_

 _"That's why you had a nightmare about it," Darkrai guessed._

 _"Right." Nikko nodded._

 _"Hm," he inspected the place some more, "I kinda like it. Very... isolated." He shook his head. "But I can see why you don't like it. It's claustrophobic... and dark..." Despite his words, it was clear by his tone that he considered all those things to be pros._

 _Nikko found herself oddly intrigued by his reaction to his old "lair." He really was the same person underneath the lack of memories, and the urge to be better for her._

 _Slowly, the Dark Crater faded away, as if mist had suddenly picked up and hidden the world from sight. Soft, ever-changing colours drifted around the two of them for a while. Nikko shivered, reminded of the times "Cresselia" had entered her and Hana's dreams in order to tell them that they shouldn't exist..._

 _"Well, it looks like we're effectively 'nowhere,'" Darkrai said thoughtfully, "now to make a field..."_

 _He was doing pretty well. Even though Nikko had needed to start scratch with a brand new body after losing her memories, she had gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. She wasn't surprised that he was remembering how to use his own body so fast._

 _Soft plush grass lightly pressed against her paws as a large field began to expand out across the horizon. Nikko tilted her head as everything got darker, realizing that Darkrai was creating the scene at night. The moon overhead was only a thin sliver of light- it was a new moon. The stars twinkled brightly as they stretched across the sky._

 _It was eerily quiet, but besides that, Darkrai had created a relatively believable scene. Nikko smiled up at him._

 _"Good job. Wanna try evolving me, now?"_

 _Darkrai blinked at her, surprised at the praise. "U-uh, okay," he stuttered, clearly flustered._

 _After a moment of nothing, Nikko's form slowly began to morph, growing larger until she was her regular Ninetales self again. She sighed in relief. Darkrai was much less intimidating when she was this size._

 _"You did that so fast! See, I knew, you'd get the hang of it." Nikko happily lied down in the grass, pleased with its softness. "And look at that. It's not a nightmare. In fact, this is rather pleasant now."_

 _Darkrai seemed even more flustered at her continued approval, but he managed to remain composed. Nikko almost laughed at the effort it took for him to not squirm in embarrassment._

 _"T-thank you. I... expected it to be a lot harder for me to do, but just like you said, it came pretty naturally. I guess I should take your word for it more often, since you've been through this too." He hovered down to sit in the grass alongside her, scratching at his cheek with a claw._

 _"Mmhmm... " Nikko hummed, her pleased, relaxed expression suddenly dropping off her face. Her face hardened._

 _Once again she was overtaken by the thought that she had been through so much misery because of_ him _. The Pokemon sitting calmly in front of her- the Pokemon she was willingly allowing to manipulate her dreams- was at fault for her losing her memory. Every time the two of them had interacted, Darkrai had always been trying to kill her in one way or another. Whether that be doing it himself or convincing her that she needed to do it._

 _And she was just sitting here with him. She was just... giving him another chance?_

 _It had been so long ago... but for for him, it had been mere days. Did time really matter in this equation?_

 _"Hey," Darkrai's voice echoed through the all encompassing darkness, "are you... okay?"_

 _Nikko shook her head. She'd think about this when Cresselia got here. Now was not the time._

 _"Yeah, I'm alright. Just... remembering things that I'm not too fond of." Nikko sighed, looking up into his bright blue eyes. They seemed to glow through the darkness._

 _"Oh... did it have anything to do with your nightmare?" Darkrai asked slowly._

 _Nikko raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you want to know?"_

 _Darkrai shrugged. "I dunno, it's just that... it looked like I was in it?"_

'Crap,' _Nikko thought, trying to not show her frustration on her face. Her mind raced to come up with an explanation. "Actually... both of the nightmares you've given me had you in them. The memories that the nightmares were derived from were actually very different, though."_

 _Nikko internally praised her acting skills as Darkrai seemed to buy it. He nodded, but he looked down sadly. "Oh. S-sorry..."_

 _Somehow she had managed to turn it around and make it about him and his ability. The relief showed on her face as she comforted him. "Oh, it's okay! You know you don't have control over it. If it matters that much to you though, since you can control dreams now, you can make it so I don't have nightmares about you anymore."_

 _Darkrai huffed, crossing his arms. "I made you relive horrible memories and it came off like... like I_ meant _to do it... I don't know how you can stand me. I've been nothing but a nuisance since I showed up."_

 _Nikko stood and walked over to him, sitting down at his side. He eyed her sadly._

 _"I don't blame you," she said gently, "my nightmare version of you is so different from how you really act, it's like you're two different people. So_ he _doesn't taint who_ you _are to me."_

 _Darkrai smiled hesitantly. "Really?"_

 _She nodded, and was immediately enveloped in a tight embrace. Darkrai's arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. His eyes were squeezed shut happily. "Thank you..."_

 _Too close. He was much too close. He needed to get off her right now._

 _...She didn't struggle. But after a moment of her sitting stiffly under his grasp, he realized that she was uncomfortable and released her. Darkrai blinked rapidly at her, clearly afraid that he had messed up. "Uh..."_

 _"I-it's okay," she stuttered, "just... warn me next time you're thinking of doing that."_

 _Darkrai laughed awkwardly, shifting to sit a few inches away. "Right..."_

* * *

Supper was more awkward than Nikko was used to. Nobody spoke, stuffing their faces as quickly as possible as if to get the meal over with.

The thing was, most of the apprentices still seemed rather interested in Darkrai, but were afraid of speaking to him when Nikko present. The stern, serious air that surrounded her made them all a bit tense, and she was kind of glad that their main priority was pleasing her. Since Darkrai had admitted that he didn't like being feared, Nikko was relieved that her guild had found a way to not anger him; by being scared of her instead.

Darkrai ate slowly, testing the foods that he couldn't remember the taste of. He didn't outwardly react to the various flavours, but Nikko could tell he was enjoying himself.

Manaphy wiped their mouth with the back of their hand. They turned to Nikko from their spot at her right side. "Staravia delivered the message. Cresselia says that she'll be here by morning," they whispered under the cover of everyone stuffing their faces noisily.

Nikko nodded approvingly. "That's a relief. Did our message mention why we are in need of her assistance?"

Manaphy shook their head. "It was vague in case of anyone else getting ahold of the letter. But she will not be shocked by what she finds when she gets here." Following their sentence, Manaphy stuffed another pecha berry into their mouth.

Nikko hummed, but didn't respond further. A subtle glance was sent in Darkrai's direction to see whether he was listening in, but he didn't seem to have noticed they had spoken at all.

 _'Good.'_ Nikko sighed, returning to her meal, but with much less enthusiasm than before.

As Nikko and Manaphy settled down to sleep that night, Manaphy sighed. "I doubt I'll be getting much sleep, thanks to Darkrai."

Nikko rested her head between her paws, her eyelids already heavy. "Maybe."

Manaphy plopped down onto their back, staring up at the ceiling with a pout. "We need to get sleep tonight, though. Besides Cresselia's arrival, we were scheduled to take Mawile on another practice exploration tomorrow."

Nikko groaned, covering her eyes with her paws in frustration. "Uhg, that's right. I completely forgot, with Darkrai messing everything up. You sure we can't reschedule?"

Manaphy huffed. "Nope. Not much you can do unless you want me to go with her all by myself."

Nikko shifted onto her side, curling into a ball with her tails coiled around her. "That won't be necessary. We do need someone to watch Darkrai for us, though. Do you think Cresselia could be trusted to do that?"

Manaphy giggled, "what if we brought him with us?"

Nikko laughed along with them. "Yeah _right._ We don't need him learning how to battle quite yet. Not to mention that Mawile is scared of him."

Manaphy hummed in agreement, but crossed their arms over their face. "I dunno. We'll need to start thinking about his future sometime. If we're gonna keep him here, he's probably gonna need to become an explorer."

The thought of Darkrai exploring untold lands purely for the fun of it was very odd. For him to not dream of destroying everything in his path was also a strange thought. Yet if things were to go according to plan, that was the future they seemed to have in store for him.

"Well... maybe it's still a bit too early for that." Nikko mumbled tiredly.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

With that, the conversation was over, and silence descended upon them.

* * *

 _She was surrounded by darkness. Standing on a wide endless stretch of emptiness, Nikko blinked passively. She peered around the nothingness with mild interest. Where was she?_

 _There was soft grass under her feet and she decided to walk through it, ambling along in some random direction. Wind breezed gently around her, making the grass sing a relaxing tune. Stars shimmered in the sky above, twinkling merrily to the sound. The moon was an immeasurably thin sliver of white, casting barely enough light to illuminate her travels._

 _Nikko paused and peer up at it, her tails dancing around her happily. This was nice. She wasn't sure where she was, but it was calm and relaxing here. She felt safe. Alone, but not at all lonely._

 _She hadn't noticed before, but there were a few trees scattered around her, and the terrain wasn't as flat as she previously thought it had been. To her left the ground sloped down into a beach, and to her right the ground rose into tall, grassy hills. The ebb and flow of the water along the shoreline was like music to her ears._

 _Nikko stepped down and into the sand, liking the familiar feeling of sand between her paws. Nikko looked around the dark scene, hoping against rationality that Hana would be there. But she was all alone, with nothing but the breeze for company. She sat in the sand, brushing her tails through it, uncaring of how dirty they were getting._

 _She recalled all the times she had watched the sunset with Hana, the two curled up in each other as they watched the bubbles float off beyond the horizon. After all the trials and tribulations the two had been through together, to just sit and watch the sunset had been the greatest gift of all._

 _They had chatted and laughed until the sky was completely dark, with only the moon to help guide them back home. Their fur soggy and covered in sand, it was always a hassle to clean up afterwards. But it was always worth it._

 _She stared up at the sky, feeling cold and empty underneath all those stars. She was always alone these days. Even when she surrounded herself with friends and family, she knew there was no replacing Hana. There was no replacing the members of the Wigglytuff guild, or Grovyle, or any of her original teammates._

 _All Nikko had left was Manaphy, and while she was grateful to still have her child with her, she had lost so many loved ones already. She wasn't made for this. She should have never lived this long. She was a human at heart; not a Ninetales, not even a Vulpix. She belonged back then, she had been meant to die alongside them. She shouldn't have tried to live this long. Not without Hana by her side._

 _She was made for a short life. She was so tired. She felt so alone..._

 _The tide had risen, and water tickled at her front paws every now and again. She stared solemnly down at it, watching as the reflection of the stars twinkled in the darkness. She could never make it to a thousand. Over three hundred and fifty years was already far too many._

 _Nikko hadn't noticed that she had started crying until she saw the tears drip into the ocean. Blinking them away, she rose her head and took a deep breath._

 _It had been so long since she let herself linger in the past. She had done so well at not falling into despair. Why now?_

 _Was it because he had returned? Digging up century-old memories and making them sting like fresh wounds?_

 _Darkrai had jumped into a dimensional hole three hundred and fifty years ago, and in an instant he was here. He only lost a few seconds. All this time Nikko had spent growing old with Hana, mourning Hana, living on her own and becoming the best guildmaster she could be- it was all just an instant for him._

 _But no matter how hard she tried, it would never be just an instant for her. She had spent a happy, fulfilling lifetime with Hana. She had watched Hana grow old whilst staying young herself. Nikko had joined Hana on the sidelines those few years before her death, the old Delcatty finally needing to admit to herself that she was too old to explore anymore._

 _Shortly after Hana's death, wracked with grief, Nikko had voyaged out to meet Dialga in hopes of begging him to bring Hana back. He had saved her life, what was one more? What made her so special? What about Hana? But there was nothing he could do. Time had taken its natural toll._

 _Nikko had spent many more lifetimes alone. Sure, she was never completely alone. She had continued to make friends and rivals as the years went by, but they too came and went. Time would wait for nobody, not even her, the one who saved it._

 _But... after all the lifetimes that she could remember... It had been so long._

 _Nikko could barely remember Hana's voice anymore._

* * *

When Nikko awoke to hot tears streaming down her face, she found a worried Manaphy standing at the foot of her bed. They had shaken her awake.

"You had a nightmare again too, huh?" They asked with an uneasy laugh.

Nikko shifted so one of her tails could wipe her face clean. "Yeah... what was yours about?"

The two sat in silence for a long time. Manaphy peered sadly over at her, and Nikko could see through the darkness that they had been crying too. She tilted her head and nodded knowingly. They smiled back, eyes still pained.

Neither needed to say anything.


	3. Chapter 3

Nikko had been given no time to prepare. The moment she opened the door to her room, she was immediately face-to-face with Cresselia. Startled, and more than a bit displeased with the legendaries sudden appearance, Nikko stumbled back into her room with a choked yelp.

Cresselia's stern expression loosened a little. "Ah, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to startle you, Nikko."

Nikko nodded automatically, "no problem... ah, there's still a few minutes until morning briefing, would you like to come in and discuss things?" Her tails swooshed about invitingly, moving out of the way in case the legendary decided to enter the room.

"Yes. Of course," Cresselia said stiffly, and Nikko raised an eyebrow as she passed. The psychic-type sounded more than a bit uncomfortable.

Manaphy stepped up to Nikko's side as she moved to shut the door. "I'll go wake up the apprentices while you deal with business in here," they said, clearly wanting nothing to do with the complicated subject of Darkrai's fate. Nikko nodded sympathetically. "Of course, that'd be a big help. Don't wake _him_ up though, we'll go get him once we're finished."

Manaphy nodded, patting Nikko on the shoulder with a pitying smile and quickly leaving. Nikko shut the door behind them with a sigh.

"So... what's the whole situation concerning... _him._ " Cresselia said, trying to sound light as if she had no clue what they were talking about. Nikko took a deep breath.

"Darkrai has lost his memory, as predicted all those years ago." Nikko said casually.

Cresselia immediately dropped all awkwardness and small-talking facades. She hovered almost menacingly over Nikko, frowning seriously. "How long has he been here?"

"Three days now... two nights."

"Has his destructive tendencies survived the memory loss?"

"...sort of?"

Cresselia narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Nikko shrugged. "He hasn't really done anything bad at all. But he's told me that he has... urges."

Cresselia hummed, turning away thoughtfully. "Then it's just the beginning of him turning into the exact same person he was before. He loves boasting about the 'darkness' inside of him, he's always so _proud_ of it-"

"No, no he didn't tell me like that," Nikko interrupted, shaking her head. "It was more like a- like a _confession_. He seemed... really guilty about it. I don't think he really knows that he's evil."

Cresselia tilted her head, her frown deepening. "So, your saying his personality remained, but as more of an... instinct?"

Nikko nodded, but followed the nod with a shrug. "I'm not sure. I think the memory loss has made him more neutral, but his natural tendency for evil is pulling him down one path, whilst I've been trying to convince him to be good. He seems very torn."

Cresselia didn't reply, her gaze fell to the floor as she considered this. Nikko needed to keep the conversation going though. They were on a time limit, so she pressed a little. "I contacted you because you knew him the best, and you were the only other one there when everything... happened. You know even more than I do about the kind of person he used to be."

Cresselia nodded, still lost in thought. "Of course."

Nikko pressed further, "so... do you think this new, memory-less Darkrai still deserves a chance at a new life? Should we risk helping him, or is he too inherently dangerous? Who should be involved with this process if we choose to proceed?"

Cresselia continued to hover silently across from her, face void of any emotion.

"Well?" Nikko prompted.

"...I want to see him before I make any decisions." Cresselia finally said, raising her gaze to return Nikko's determined look. They stared at each other for a moment, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Before Nikko could respond, Manaphy knocked on the door. "Guildmaster, you are needed for morning briefings!"

The air was suddenly breathable again, and Nikko took a deep breath. She moved to leave, but before she exited the room, she turned her head to peer back at Cresselia. "Give me a few minutes. Prepare yourself for when you see him, because we don't need him figuring out that we knew him before all this."

Cresselia blinked in surprise. "You never told him?"

Nikko stepped out of the room silently, shutting the door. She smiled lightly at all her apprentices. This whole thing was already feeling like a bad idea.

* * *

After her duties were over for the time being, Nikko lead Cresselia towards Darkrai's room. It wasn't far, but the both of them seemed hesitant to get there, moving sluggishly. Cresselia bit her lip nervously.

Nikko knocked on the door with her paw. "Darkrai? Are you up?" Not waiting for a response, she opened the door and peered inside. Darkrai was hovering over his bed, his back to the door. He quickly spun around at Nikko's appearance, eyes wide.

"Nikko! I have to ask you something-"

Cresselia pushed passed Nikko and into the room, making Darkrai pause in surprise. Cresselia eyed him seriously for a moment before hovering back a little. The two stared at each other in silence, and not for the first time Nikko found herself wondering if Darkrai could somewhat recognize her.

There was no flare of sudden rage in Darkrai's eyes, so she assumed not. Nikko cleared her throat, drawing Darkrai's attention.

"This is Cresselia, a teammate of mine." Nikko stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her and moving to stand at Cresselia's side. "Remember when I told you that I knew others with dream abilities? Cresselia is one such person."

Darkrai blinked, turning to her curiously. "Really? You can make nightmares too?"

Cresselia winced, clearly trying to hide her disgust at such an idea. "No. I bring _good_ dreams, actually." Nikko shifted uncomfortably. Cresselia really was a horrible liar. Her animosity was as clear as day.

Her obvious aggression made Darkrai narrow his eyes, and Nikko bit her lip. Attacking Cresselia for antagonizing him would not convince the psychic-type of anything. For a short moment the air was tense, and Nikko found herself unable to breath. But instead of attacking, Darkrai seemed to realize what he was thinking, and guiltily shied away from Cresselia's accusatory glare.

"Oh... Well, um, t-that's good!" He said, swallowing his irritation and feigning optimism instead. "Nikko has been teaching me how to make good dreams. Is that why she called you? Since you'd be a more knowledgeable teacher on the subject?"

Cresselia frowned deeper, "wha-" Nikko nudged her insistently. Blinking in realization, Cresselia hesitantly nodded. "Yes. Well. I suppose I could teach you some things... as long as you can prove that you're not as bad as you _used_ to be, of course."

Nikko flinched. Cresselia didn't notice, but Darkrai did. "Huh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "You... you used to... _know_ me?" Cresselia raised her head up high in order to look regal, and taller than usual. "Of course! You-"

Nikko took a step forward, hoping to do as much damage control as possible before Cresselia ruined everything with her lack of subtlety. "We sent out some guild members to look for anyone who might know you, because surely you had friends or family somewhere. And who would have guessed that Cresselia, an old friend of mine, actually used to know you! How convenient! I invited her here as soon as possible so we could possibly learn more about your past and teach you about your powers all at the same time!" Nikko finished with an enthusiastic grin.

Darkrai blinked at her, considering her words before his gaze slowly roved back to the perplexed-looking psychic-type. "What was I like?" He asked softly, although Nikko could sense the disappointment already radiating off of him. He knew what her answer would be.

Cresselia seemed to finally catch on, tilting her head curiously upon noticing the hesitance with which he asked the question. Nikko could finally see cogs turning in her mind. "You were... uhm... kind of like a rival of mine, I guess?" Her voice was surprisingly gentle.

Darkrai narrowed his eyes, "In what way?"

Cresselia cleared her throat, hovering lower and relaxing her stance. "You always caused so much trouble, and I always had to chase after you to fix all the damage you did. When you disappeared... I was glad. So when I heard that you turned up here, I was..." she peered down at Nikko, "I was scared you'd destroy the place."

Darkrai hummed sadly, his eyes drifting to the floor. "I see..." He looked back up at her. "How long was I gone? You don't know what happened to me?"

Cresselia hesitated. Nikko peered up at her encouragingly. This was an easy lie. It would be easy...

"You've been gone... a long time. I don't-... I don't know what happened." A half-lie. Well, it was better than nothing.

"Cresselia agreed to help us teach you," Nikko said, her nerves lowered considerably, "I didn't expect her to initially antagonise you. I'm sorry." Darkrai shook his head. "No... It's my fault. I was the one... who was so... _bad._ "

He raised his gaze and smiled weakly at Cresselia, clearly struggling to remain positive. "I'd be happy learn about dreams from you."

Nikko supposed that this could have gone worse. He seemed a bit more encouraged to be good. So why did this feel so... wrong?

* * *

To Nikko's dismay, Cresselia refused to be left alone with Darkrai. This meant that they would need to bring the both of them along on their training mission for Mawile. Nikko was very upset; she didn't want to reintroduce Darkrai to fighting yet, and Cresselia would undoubtedly get in the way. Not to mention Mawile's fear of Darkrai, which would only cause more complications. There was no way the child would be able to confidently do her best with a 'bad guy' following close behind. Even Manaphy seemed to lack optimism, but they reluctantly sent the four pokemon out anyway.

Upon reaching Foreboding Forest, Nikko steeled herself, taking a deep breath and setting her shoulders. "Alright Mawile, this time you'll be leading the pack." She lightly waved her tails, ushering the small pokemon who stood at her side to move forward.

"W-what? I don't know... what if I mess up?" Mawile whimpered, eyes darting back to Darkrai every few seconds, who was peering curiously around the area, paying her zero attention. Nikko shook her head. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing. I will be with you all the way. If you get into some trouble, I'll step in. Okay?"

Mawile nodded hesitantly. "Okay..." She stepped forwards, looking from side to side, analysing the dungeon. "Uhh... t-this way..." She started off, scampering through the mystery dungeon anxiously. Nikko was second behind her, followed by Darkrai, and Cresselia taking up the rear.

The group was rather silent for the most part, with the occasional question from Mawile. Nikko hummed softly to herself as they reached the area they had first encountered Darkrai in.

"Mawile, turn left here." Nikko said as the child came to a fork in the path. "H-huh?" She jumped, having not received any directions up until this point. Nikko nodded encouragingly. "I want to find that clearing we found Darkrai at. Remember?" Mawile blinked in surprise, but managed a weak nod. "Okay," she said, hesitantly turning down the left path.

Darkrai hovered up beside Nikko. "Where you found me?" He asked tentatively, as if the idea scared him a little. Nikko nodded encouragingly. "Yes, do you remember? I told you that we found you in this forest." Darkrai shrugged. "It must've... slipped my mind, I guess."

They arrived in a large clearing, empty of anything but an apple lying in the corner of the room. Mawile immediately set out to pick it up, like a good leader should. Nikko didn't follow her, instead she searched the room for any indication that it was the same as those few days ago. It felt like she had been dealing with Darkrai for so long, and the realization that it had only been a few days made her feel odd. So much had changed so quickly.

' _There,'_ she thought, noticing a spot in the clearing where the grass was turned up as if someone had scraped it away. The smear of dirt and torn grass was almost ominous to look at. The final remnants of a life Nikko hoped Darkrai would never be able to reclaim.

The Ninetales stepped up to the gash of dirt, pawing at it to get Darkrai's attention. "Here it is! This is where we found you." Nikko said. Darkrai quickly approached, blinking down at the mess of dirt and unearthed grass. "It looks like I... had a rather bad fall." He said, humming thoughtfully. "I suppose that sort of explains my injuries."

He turned to her. "Did you see what happened to me?" Nikko shook her head, "no. When we got here you were already knocked out."

Darkrai looked back at the smear of dirt and rubble, and Nikko could see he was lost in thought. What he was thinking so hard about, Nikko wasn't sure, but the final remains of his past life clearly troubled him. He didn't draw closer, instead keeping a good distance away from it. Nikko couldn't help but smile a little at the sight. It was kind of... cute, how uneasy he was. He was so different from how he used to be.

The thought made her wonder how much she had changed from when she had been a human. That thought soured her mood a little, and the smile slipped from her face. Mawile stepped up to her, followed by Cresselia. "Guildmaster, I'm ready to continue!" Mawile said, grasping the strap of the treasure bag with faux confidence. Nikko smiled pleasantly at her, "then lead us on!" Mawile nodded, steeling herself, and the group made its way towards the edge of the clearing.

Darkrai began to fall behind as they went, too lost in thought to be able to keep up. Cresselia became agitated as a result, as she insisted on staying behind him.

"Speed up! We're going to lose them at this rate!" Cresselia snapped. Nikko paused and turned back to them worriedly.

Darkrai had come to a complete stop as a result of the psychic-types outburst. He had turned around to face her. Cresselia seemed to be using all of her willpower to not shove Darkrai in order to get him to move.

"Why are you just _standing_ there?" Cresselia huffed, the initial bite faded from her voice as she collected herself. If Nikko didn't know better, she would have thought she heard unease growing in Cresselia's voice. Nikko couldn't see Darkrai's face, but something told her that he was not going to be very happy if this behaviour continued unchecked.

"Hey Mawile, stop for a second!" Nikko called, and the small steel-type immediately stopped and peered back at them. Nikko didn't wait for a response, quickly approaching the scene that was becoming increasingly tense.

Darkrai was indeed glaring at Cresselia, like Nikko suspected. But the intensity of it was much less suffocating than Nikko had expected. He seemed merely mildly irritated, but his expression immediately broke when Nikko arrived.

"What's going on here?" She asked, putting on her best 'stern mother' voice. Cresselia seemed to recoil. Perhaps she had forgotten for a moment that she was supposed to be friendly towards him. The air became less dangerous, but it was equally tense.

Darkrai blinked openly down at Nikko. "Ah- I-" He stuttered. "I didn't mean to fall behind, I was just-"

"I don't like this." Cresselia said, and Nikko was shocked to see that she was pouting. "He isn't cut out for exploring yet. We should go back."

"B-but..!" Mawile suddenly chipped in, her small voice trying desperately to be heard from the wide berth she was giving them. Suddenly having three sets of eyes on her made her shrink in on herself even more. "I was doing really good..." She murmured. Nikko hummed, turning back to the two legendaries.

"We're switching positions. Darkrai, you're going to be in front of me, okay?" Darkrai blinked incredulously. "But then what's the little one going to do if she gets in trouble? You won't be as readily available."

Nikko shook her head. "I know what I'm doing. In front. Now." She said, pointing towards Mawile with her nose. Darkrai hesitantly compiled, and Mawile started off, much slower this time, her nerves shot up to eleven due to having a 'bad guy' following even more closely behind her.

Things went smoothly for a while, surprisingly. Darkrai no longer lingered, he kept up well. Nikko supposed he had either been broken out of his stupor, or he was worried about nonperforming in front of her.

Cresselia hovered up beside Nikko, tilting her head apologetically. "Are you sure it's okay to put him between you and your pupil? You can't trust him _that_ much, right?"

Nikko sighed. "What else was I supposed to do? It was either this or you two getting into a fight. Mawile deserves better than to have her first full exploration as the leader be cut short by you two riling each other up."

Cresselia was inclined to protest. "Well what was I _supposed_ to do?"

Nikko's tails writhed behind her in irritation. "Uhg... No, I guess I expected too much. I should've seen it coming. I should've just gotten someone else to do this for me." She peered up at Darkrai's back, watching as he continued to peer around the forest curiously. She shouldn't have brought him...

"No, Nikko, it's my fault," Cresselia said softly, "I didn't mean to snap, I just..."

"I know," Nikko said, promptly ending the conversation.

Cresselia was always a bad liar, but that included her ability to hide her emotions. She was an open book in every aspect and Nikko should've known that putting the two of them together would only end in complications. Maybe she had been hoping a little too much... maybe she had hoped that Cresselia would see what she saw.

 _Foolish_. It was foolish to hope, and foolish to even _consider_ that _maybe_ Darkrai had some likeable traits.

...It was hard sometimes. Always forcing herself to remember everything he had done to her.

 _He had tried to kill her. He had almost convinced her that she needed to die._

 _...He had hugged her. He tried to run away when he realized that he gave her nightmares..._

The disparity was too great. Why couldn't Cresselia see it?

Was Nikko the one that was blind?

"AH-!" Mawile yelped. Nikko was ripped from her contemplation, and she suddenly noticed that there was a Mr. Mime that had managed to hit the small steel-type with a brick break. A reviver seed immediately restored the damage. "Crap-!" Nikko hissed, trying to get closer and take out the Mr. Mime before it could do real damage.

But then Nikko realized that Mawile had fearfully retreated, running past Darkrai and hiding behind Nikko's hind legs. Nikko immediately knew what was going to happen if she didn't intervene. Darkrai was in front. "Darkrai-!"

An Ominous Wind billowed through the area, whipping violently at the Mr. Mime. Before Nikko could even move, the Mr. Mime had fainted, and the danger had passed.

"..." Nikko blinked up at Darkrai as he hovered before her, unmoving. He seemed just as shocked as she was.

"Did I just do that?" Darkrai asked before turning around to blink questioningly at her.

Nikko couldn't help but smile wryly. "You figured out your attack so easily that you didn't even notice." Of course he did.

Darkrai beamed, "I did?" He turned back to the fallen Mr. Mime and tilted his head. "Wow... I'm really strong." He seemed rather proud of himself. Self-satisfaction was radiating from him in waves.

"Nikko I do _not like this!_ " Cresselia whispered harshly in the Ninetales' ear.

"It's fine, Cresselia. He was going to need to remember sometime." Nikko whispered back.

" _No!_ " Cresselia snapped, speaking loud enough for Darkrai to jump in surprise and turn around. "What?"

"I saw that look in your eye! I won't allow you to hurt anyone ever again!" Cresselia announced, flying up to look Darkrai in the eye.

Darkrai reared back, "What!? I just protected the kid! Wasn't that the _good_ thing to do?"

"You were not brought here to fight! You were out of line!"

 _"You're_ the one out of line! You're accusing me of doing something I didn't even _do!"_

"I'm worried about what you _will_ do!" Cresselia screeched, and silence fell upon them. Nikko realized with a start that she had no idea who's side she was supposed to be on.

Darkrai was quiet, but his anger had not alleviated. He simply frowned in confusion.

Cresselia collected herself, and stood up as tall as she could. When she stood like that, she truly was beautiful, nobody could deny it. And stood across from her, Nikko had to admit that Darkrai held his own kind of beauty. A gothic type of beauty- but it was wonderous all the same. In a way, the two were made for each other.

"Now that you have remembered your strength," Cresselia murmured, "Now that you remember what it's like to hurt others... It is all you care about. I can see it."

Darkrai blinked, and a stark realization came over his face.

"You want to attack me. Want to see me fallen at your feet like that Mr. Mime is. And once I have fallen, nobody will ever be able to stop you- you and you're... _sadistic needs."_

The area fell silent again, but this time there was no anger in Darkrai's face. Actually, as Nikko looked deeper, it was harder than ever to read his thoughts. Was Cresselia... right?

Darkrai's eyes drifted away from Cresselia and landed on Nikko. She wasn't sure what to make of that, but she didn't dare move. In his eyes she saw nothing, and she hoped that he didn't see any of the fear that she felt. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Darkrai returned his gaze to Cresselia.

"No." He said, his voice hard and cold.

Cresselia reared back in confusion. "No? No _what?_ "

Darkrai shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I want or how much I want it."

Cresselia scoffed, "so you don't deny it?"

"No," Darkrai said with a sigh, "but I don't want to be like that. More than any of those urges, I want to be good. For Nikko."

Cresselia blinked in shock. Nikko smiled. Maybe she was right about him after all, and Cresselia was the one who was blind.

Mawile piped up from her hiding spot behind Nikko's legs. "C-can we go home now?"

* * *

 _"Nikko?" Hana asked casually. The two were sitting in the sand at the beach. It was dusk, but tonight there were no bubbles wafting over the horizon. The Krabby must've been busy elsewhere._

 _Nikko hummed in acknowledgement, swishing all nine of her tails through the beach, burying them beneath the smooth sand carelessly. The sea breeze ruffled her fur and she sighed happily. This was the life._

 _"Do you ever feel like we're not doing enough?" Hana's voice was still casual, but the insecure words made Nikko raise an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? We're discovering new stuff all the time!"_

 _Hana shrugged, blinking her large dark eyes tiredly. She shifted closer to Nikko, leaning into her warm shoulder with a sigh. "I dunno. Maybe after all the world saving we did, it feels weird to not need to save it anymore. I just feel like we're stagnating. We can't get much better than we already are, y'know? We already saved the world, became the highest rank an exploration team can be, and we've explored so many places. Where do we go from here?"_

 _Nikko considered her words. "I guess I know what you're talking about. We're still so young, but it feels like we've already done everything we ever dreamed of."_

 _Hana nodded. "Yeah. So... what do we do? I don't want to stop exploring... but maybe we should shake things up a bit, somehow?"_

 _Nikko rested her chin on the top of Hana's head. The Delcatty began softly purring at that. The setting sun illuminated the beach in an orange light, and the water shimmered brilliantly. The warmth of the sun and of Hana's body at her side made a wholeness fill Nikko's heart. She didn't need anything but this._

 _"I think I have an idea," Nikko said softly._

 _Hana hummed happily, "lemme hear it!"_

 _"Maybe we could..."_

 _We could..._

 _We..._

 _All of the calm, comfortable warmth that Nikko had accumulated suddenly dropped away, leaving her so cold and startled it was as if someone dunked ice cold water over her head._

 _The familiar old scene of her and Hana faded away, leaving her floating helplessly in an ever colour-changing void. It was all just a dream; a memory._

 _Nikko sighed, curling her tails around herself sadly. If only, oh if only she could just go back. She was getting more and more miserable by the day, more angry, more depressed, more empty inside. More pathetic._

 _"I can't keep doing this..." She murmured under her breath, not bothering to avoid the pain of it all. It was too much to run from._

 _"Hey, Nikko...?" A voice rung out around her, and suddenly Nikko found herself lying in a patch of grass. She peered up and found herself in a dark forest, the moonlight blocked by the leaves of the lush trees. The trees rustled merrily in the breeze._

 _The area wasn't completely dark though. It was slightly illuminated by a few small candles that dotted the area. Under the candlelight, Nikko could see him, hovering just a few feet away from her._

 _Darkrai._

 _Why had he interrupted the nice dream Cresselia's presence had given her?_

 _"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be sleeping." Nikko said, and while she felt she should be chastising him, she couldn't help but feel curious._

 _Darkrai played with his hands distractedly. "I wanted to talk to you about something this morning, but... Cresselia made it difficult."_

 _Nikko tilted her head, even more curious now. "Really? What is it?"_

 _Darkrai hovered down to sit opposite her, and she followed suit. The dark-type sighed. "Last night, I didn't want you to have a nightmare- so I tried to give you a lucid dream and a calming place to stay until you woke up. But... you still had a nightmare anyway. And just now, when I interrupted your dream, you... well, the dream got a really painful aura to it."_

 _Nikko blinked in surprise. He had tried to influence her dream last night?_

 _Darkrai fidgeted under her silence. "I'm sorry! I guess I'm just bad at making good dreams..."_

 _"No! No..." Nikko sighed, placing her paw gently over Darkrai's hand. "I think you misinterpreted what happened. My mind is always like that. You giving me a lucid dream just forced me to deal with my own thoughts, without any distractions."_

 _Darkrai blinked at her in shock. "What!? You... you're always in so much pain?" His gaze flickered back and forth between both her eyes. The concern in his gazes was kind of endearing. Nikko chuckled softly._

 _"Not all the time. I know how to take my mind off it. Usually." Although, as of late she was having much more trouble distracting herself, with Darkrai here as a constant reminder. So much had changed. Yet nothing had changed at all._

 _Darkrai moved closer, worriedly grasping one of her paws in both his hands. "Why? Is it me?"_

 _Nikko blinked, had he read her mind somehow? "No! Ah- ugh..." She shook her head, defeated. "It's- well... did you see my dream, before you took it away?"_

 _He nodded cautiously, letting go of her paw. "You were on a beach with another pokemon." He made a face, and Nikko wasn't sure what to make of the expression. "You were_ cuddled up _to them."_

 _...was he...? No, that would be ridiculous._

 _"Yes. Her name was Hana."_

 _At the word 'was,' Darkrai's eyes widened and he eyed her awkwardly. "Oh..."_

 _"Do you remember how I said that when I lost my memory, someone was there to help me?"_

 _Darkrai nodded. "So that was... Hana?"_

 _Nikko took a deep breath. It was odd, hearing him say that name again. She remembered the last time he had said it- all those years ago._

 _So different..._

 _"Yes. She was my partner. I loved her with everything I had."_

 _Darkrai looked away, and Nikko wondered if she was imagining the dejection on his face. "And now she's gone."_

 _"She's been dead for centuries. It's been so long, but the pain... It's still so intense." Talking about it was surprisingly easy. She would have thought that she would cry, as she usually did when she recalled her beloved partner. But she felt so detached right now..._

 _Was she finally broken?_

 _"Nikko?" Darkrai asked, his voice soft and uneasy. Nikko tilted her head in response, frowning curiously at him. The dark-type looked away again. "Can I... hug you?"_

 _"What?" Nikko furrowed her brows in confusion._

 _Darkrai became agitated. "Last time, you said I should ask you first."_

 _Nikko laughed, remembering what he was referring to. "Oh. Well..."_

 _She shouldn't. He wasn't trustworthy._

 _How could she tell him about her pain if she didn't trust him? Was there something wrong with her? Did she just not care anymore?_

 _"...sure."_

 _It was awkward. She watched curiously as he nervously sat himself beside her and wrapped his arms around her neck. His body was large and bulky, making it hard to find the hug at all comfortable. But she found herself wrapping her tails around him anyway, returning the embrace. At least it was warm. Feeling the warm embrace of another was something she didn't get very often anymore. Maybe this was okay._

 _He sighed shakily, and Nikko almost laughed at the realization that he was trembling anxiously. Was he really that concerned? Did he really think that much of her?_

 _Of course he did. She was his Hana._

 _Nikko's eyes shot open, and her body went stiff. Darkrai noticed. "Are you okay..?"_

 _Something about that thought made everything feel so different. His attempt at comforting her suddenly felt like a stab in the heart. His arms around her had felt warm, but now every place he touched her felt like ice._

 _She was his Hana. She was his Hana... She was..._

 _What had she gotten herself into...?_

 _"Darkrai..?" Nikko said, but her voice cracked and suddenly she was afraid she'd burst into tears if she spoke any more._

 _"Should I let go? You're not letting me go. Are you uncomfortable?" He asked nervously._

 _He was right, her tails were still coiling around him, in fact now they were stiff, gripping onto him like he was a lifeline. She tried to force them to move, but she was frozen._

 _"How do you- how do you feel about me?" She asked shakily._

 _Darkrai blinked, and when she turned to look him in the eye she noticed that he was blushing. "W-what?" He stuttered._

 _No no no no no-_

 _"If I died... and you never got to say goodbye. Would you care?" she could barely speak above a whisper._

 _Darkrai flinched and gripped her tighter. His touch was stifling. "Of course I would! Nikko, you're the only thing I care about."_

 _This was so unfair._

 _"Answer the question, Darkrai. How do you feel about me?" Her voice was weak and fearful, but she needed to know._

 _The fear in her voice made him clearly uneasy, and he wanted to pull away. But her tails held him still. "Ah- well I..."_

 _For a long moment he stared at her, and she stared back. She could see gears turning in his head as he considered her question. "Wait... is that what happened with Hana?"_

 _Nikko nodded hesitantly. "I was... out on a rescue mission for one of our teammates. It was urgent, I was the only one who could rescue them..." She sighed, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. "When I got back she had been gone for a few days already."_

 _Darkrai seemed conflicted. He stared at her, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Nikko, I-"_

* * *

"Psst! Wake up!"

Nikko jerked awake with a gasp. She blinked up through the darkness of her bedroom to find Cresselia hovering over her. It took a few moments for her to realize that she had been crying in her sleep. She wiped her eyes before rising from her bed and eyeing Cresselia with irritated confusion.

"What are you doing in here?" She hissed, trying to keep from waking Manaphy.

"Darkrai was in your dreams! And I couldn't interfere!" Cresselia was barely managing to keep her voice down. She seemed hysterical, her eyes wild and fearful. "What was he doing to you?!"

Nikko frowned. "It's nothing you need to worry about. We'll talk about this in the morning."

Cresselia vehemently disagreed, "No! I told you yesterday that I wanted to wait before making my decision about what we do about him. But I think I've decided now. He's dangerous. We need to execute him."

Nikko bit her lip but tried to conceal her agitation. She knew- _she knew_ where Cresselia was coming from. But the memories of what Darkrai had done had started to feel disconnected from the Darkrai she now knew-

 _So different-_

She could see where Cresselia was coming from, but why couldn't the legendary see how he was under control now? He was inherently dangerous, yes, and he had lingering urges-

 _Not different at all-_

But he... he...

He liked her more than anybody had liked her in centuries.

And because of that- because she had been in that position herself, and knew what it was like-

She was his Hana-

"No." Nikko's voice was hard and her stance was confident. She stood tall and the look in her eye alone was enough to intimidate.

"What do you mean 'no?'" Cresselia hissed, confusion making her mind spin. "He- did you forget what he did to you!?"

Nikko gave no response.

"He destroyed your world! He's the reason you lost your memory! He's the reason you needed to suffer and _die_ in order to change the future! He tried to- he tried to _kill you_ multiple times! And now he's back, and just as dangerous as ever, and you- you trust that he's not going to stab you in the back like he always does?"

"...He's not like that anymore."

"I knew him, Nikko! Better than anyone! You don't know the hell my life was because of him, you don't know how many times he killed and I had to pick up the pieces! Did you ever consider the atrocities he committed to other Pokemon? That maybe you weren't the _only one_ whose life he ruined? Do you really think that kind of evil can just conveniently go away simply because he wants it to? Because _you_ want it to?"

Nikko flinched.

Her small response seemed to evoke sympathy from the psychic-type. The room was silent for a long moment as Cresselia tried to calm herself down. Cresselia sighed. "I'm... I'm sorry, Nikko. I don't want to come off like the bad guy here. I know you don't want to care about him, but I could tell from the moment I got here that you couldn't stop yourself." She shook her head and hovered lower in order to appear smaller.

"But your compassion is bordering on naive. You see too much of yourself in his situation. Trust me- He. Isn't. You. He's not like you. Even if he tries his best to be the person you want him to be, he's still malicious deep down." Cresselia paused, searching for some kind of response from her. But Nikko gave no indication that she was even listening. "His need to be manipulative, or violent or just destructive, it'll only build beneath the surface until he can't keep it in anymore. He's going to explode, and you don't want to be around for when that happens."

Cresselia took a deep breath. "I just want to protect you, Nikko. You're a good friend, you know that. I don't want him to make you suffer needlessly."

The light that streamed in through the window from the cool moonlight flickered. For a moment, the room was drenched in darkness, and when the light returned, Nikko narrowed her eyes.

"We were talking." Nikko said sternly. "Before you woke me up. He had entered my dreams to have a private conversation with me."

Cresselia blinked at her. She opened her mouth to speak but Nikko spoke over her. "He was worried about me." Nikko shook her head. "He was not giving me a nightmare. You're wrong. He may have powers that make him dangerous, but he is not a dangerous _person_. I wholeheartedly believe that he is redeemable- people can change, and this is his chance to. He's been trying his best so far and I don't think you're giving him enough credit-"

"Nikko?" Cresselia cut in cautiously. She seemed almost frightened.

"What?"

"...I think he heard us."

Nikko's eyes flicked left and right as if she'd be able to find him. "W-what? How can you tell..?"

Cresselia bit her lip and started to breathe heavily. She was starting to panic again. "H-he can slip into shadows undetected! I thought- I thought he forgot how to do that! The darkness- that wink of darkness that just went over us- that was him! He- _where is he!?"_

Her sudden panicked scream made Manaphy jump awake with a gasp. "W-what?"

Nikko was too shellshocked to react, and when Cresselia frantically rushed out of the room in search of him, the Ninetales barely even noticed.

How much had he heard? How much did he know? Did he know what he had done to her? Did he know that they were arguing over whether they should kill him or not?

...Did he feel betrayed?

"...Nikko? Nikko! M-... _Mom!_ "

Nikko jumped in surprise. She turned, blinking owlishly at her child. "M-Manaphy?"

Manaphy frowned worriedly and placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, Nikko? What happened? Did something happen?"

Nikko took a deep, shaky breath, trying to pull herself from the cage of her own mind. "Cresselia wanted to execute Darkrai, and I thought he was salvageable. W-we argued for a while but then- then Cresselia realized that Darkrai had been... listening in. He heard us... and we had mentioned his past..."

Manaphy gasped softly, more concerned than surprised. "That- that's... not good. You need to go find him. Where is he?"

"I don't... I don't know..."

Manaphy sighed, crossing their arms in thought. "Maybe we should alert the guild. If this gets too serious, we'll need all the help we can get to contain him."

Nikko stumbled to her feet and took a deep breath, steadying herself. "No, it's not that serious yet- at least, we can't be sure. You stay here- I'll go look for him. If this gets serious, you need to be the one to get everyone up, okay?"

Manaphy nodded seriously. "Okay. Now go, before anything serious actually gets the chance to happen!"

Nikko nodded before rushing out of the door. She couldn't find Cresselia anywhere within the guild. Darkrai's room, the kitchen, the assembly hall and the various bulletin board rooms. When Nikko stormed out of the front doors of the guild, she almost slammed right into Cresselia, who had been pacing back and forth just outside.

The moonlight shone down on them, the only light this late at night. All fires had been put out, with only a few nocturnal Pokemon quietly making their way down the streets, considerate of those that were sleeping nearby. The calm atmosphere felt unfitting for the unease that flooded Nikko's mind, and the panic on Cresselia's face.

Cresselia turned to Nikko with a gasp at her sudden arrival. "Nikko! We need to find him! Uhg, I should've known that he'd remember how to slip into shadows, I'm such an idiot!" She shook her head. "You see now, don't you? He's too dangerous! He's too powerful! We need to find him and snuff him out while he's still not 100% in control of his powers!"

Nikko bit her lip nervously, "Cresselia... Darkrai will undoubtedly leave a trail of nightmares behind him. I'll follow the trail, but I want you to stay back and take care of the sleeping Pokemon."

Cresselia raised an eyebrow, her eyes wide and disbelieving. "What- and leave you to fight him yourself?"

Nikko shook her head. "I will not fight him. But yes, I do want you to leave him to me. I will pacify him and bring him back to the guild, where he shall not be punished or killed."

Cresselia gaped at her, "You can't be serious! Why are you letting him manipulate you like this? You're smarter than this!"

Nikko bared her teeth warningly. This was too urgent a moment for them to argue, but if this was what it would take to get her way, Nikko supposed there was no other option. "He's not manipulating me. This- this _compassion_ that I have for him- it has more to do with what he symbolizes for me, than who he actually is."

Cresselia's hackles lowered in curiosity, confusion filling her gaze. "That... I don't understand."

Nikko sighed. "I thought I was infallible; all these years, after everything I've been through, I thought I was too wise and too experienced to ever be affected by anything anymore. But I was wrong- I was slowly falling apart all these years- whether I didn't know or simply didn't want to accept it, I can't be sure- but I think Darkrai wasn't just the straw that broke my back."

"What do you mean?"

Nikko turned away and thought for a moment. Gathering the right thoughts was never easy when the subject always made her mind spin. "Do you know the last time I had a dimensional scream vision?"

Cresselia stared at her blankly for a moment. "...My god, I forgot you even had that ability."

Nikko nodded. "That's because I haven't had a vision since Hana's passing."

"Wha- seriously? You haven't loved or trusted anyone enough since then?"

"Nobody could ever measure up to what she meant to me. She was the one who found me when I first woke up. Lost and alone in an unfamiliar world, she was the only one I could latch onto. She was there when we were kidnapped and brought into the future. She was the only one there when I disappeared. She's the reason I'm alive right now. She was there when Manaphy hatched, and she was my only companion when Darkrai disguised himself as _you_ to try and convince us to _kill ourselves."_

Cresselia flinched at the last one, but still shook her head. "But, surely you've been through countless struggles since then. You must've bonded with someone else at some point, right?"

"Yes, but none measured up to the bond we had. Since Hana died, I've felt like I'm overdue; like I should've died alongside her. I wasn't made to live this long." A tightness began to grow in Nikko's throat, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't swallow it away. "I feel like I'm already half-dead, like there's no future left for me. My life has already been lived. I've already experienced all I needed to see."

Cresselia frowned in concern. "Nikko... I-"

"But now I think I know why Darkrai's presence affected me so much. He was _there._ He was the reason I was born at all: the reason me and Grovyle grew up in a dark and broken future. He was the reason I became a Pokemon, the reason I lost my memory. He is the reason I disappeared in order to save the world."

Nikko's voice hitched and she paused for a moment to will herself to calm down. "Everything that I am... everything that I was, it was because of him. Even if his involvement was all from the shadows, and I knew nothing about him, he was there. He's a reminder of my past, a relic. And I... I think I need that."

"What?" Cresselia reared back in shock. "I thought you would've wanted to get rid of him!"

"At first I thought so too! He did such horrible things, so I thought I was supposed to hate him. But I've felt so detached from the world for so long, so stuck in the past; and he just shows up. He was one of the many people from my past that I had said goodbye to, that I had tried to leave behind. But now _he's here_ , and he makes everything that happened feel like it all happened yesterday- and he- he-" Nikko choked. She was getting too worked up but now it was too much for her to hold back.

"I see more of myself in him than I thought. Of course the time travel memory loss is something I can relate to, but he- he likes me! _I'm his Hana!_ He's lost and confused and afraid, just like I was- and _still am!_ I'm lost, and I'm scared, and I don't have Hana anymore!" She could barely see through the fogginess of her tears, so she shut her eyes and turned away.

"And then someone I used to know- someone who had such a huge impact on my life- suddenly shows up again. And he loves me like I loved Hana! I can't betray him! I can't let go of him! I need him! I need that love again, I need that memory of what I thought was long gone I finally feel like I have a future, something to live for... I need him, and I think he needs me too..!"

Cresselia was silent for a long time, her head sheepishly turned to the side as she stared into nothingness. The gentle night breeze felt off underneath the sounds of Nikko's stifled cries.

Cresselia took a deep breath. She met Nikko's gaze cautiously and spoke very slow, choosing her words carefully. "I'm sorry for assuming this all came down to naivety. It was unfair to treat you like someone so much younger than you are." she turned to look Nikko in the eye. "This is not naivety at all. It's much deeper than that... I'm sorry."

Cresselia hesitated, biting her lip as if internally debating the merits of her words. "But... Nikko. You know you've always had me. I was there when Darkrai was defeated. I knew Hana. If you ever needed someone to be there, someone from the past, you know I would have been there for you." She paused again. "And Manaphy... they're your child, and Hana's child too. They loved Hana just like you did. The both of us- we've always been here. And if- if Darkrai doesn't work out... you know we'll be here for you, right?"

Nikko let out a wet laugh. "I-... yeah. Thank you, Cresselia." She reached up and nuzzled the psychic-types cheek with her own.

Cresselia returned the gesture. "I understand now that it was his _return_ that affected you so badly. I know Manaphy and I have always been around, so of course we weren't going to make you break down like this. But we'll _always_ be here. Even if we don't measure up to Hana... we'll always love you, and we'll never go away."

"Yes- yes of course..." Nikko pulled away and smiled tearfully up at her old friend. "So... I can go and find him? Alone?"

Cresselia smiled tenderly, "I trust you, Nikko. You're a good leader, and I don't want you to suffer. Never again. I just hope he truly does love you as much as you say. If not, I'm going to need to beat him up for leading you on, hehehe!"

The two laughed gently for a moment, Nikko's heart feeling a little lighter now. There was still a knot of anxiety left there, and she suspected the blanket of grief would never lift from the back of her mind, but she felt lighter. It was more than anything she had hoped for herself. Darkrai had truly brought her back into the present.

She had a job to do, but now she felt like she could do it. And whether or not her future would continue to lighten the load on her heart, for the first time in ages she felt like she actually _did_ have a future. She had so much left ahead of her, she wasn't a dying, elderly human- she was a Ninetales. Maybe now she could finally learn to live like one.

But first things first. She needed Darkrai back, and she needed him to know the truth. The whole truth.

Nikko wiped her eyes with one of her tails and turned, ready to set off. "I can trust you to heal the sleeping pokemon?"

Cresselia nodded. "Of course."

With that, Nikko set off in a run. She could only hope he hadn't gotten too far.


	4. Chapter 4

Trying to follow the trail of sleeping pokemon wasn't easy. Peeking into shops and darkened houses was a slow and tedious process. Some pokemon yelped out in fear because of their nightmares, and their cries disrupted the calm of the night. The still and relaxed atmosphere was ruined, replaced with shifting shadows and squirming figures. Nikko supposed it was fitting. This dread seemed like something that Darkrai would prefer. She was hit with the memory of Azurill, tossing and turning in pain, impossible to awaken.

She shook her head. Everything would be okay. She'd make it okay.

"Darkrai!" She called, hoping he would make himself known. She wasn't sure if calling him would scare him off or not, but since he remembered how to hide in shadows, there was no way she was going to be able to sneak up on him. He would need to reveal himself, or else she would have no way of confronting him.

The trail of sleeping pokemon lead her towards the docks. Said docks were empty, not a single water-type in sight. Darkrai was also nowhere to be found, so her gaze was drawn to the beach.

She stepped into the sand, and it was cold beneath her paws. There were fewer shadows to hide in, but the sleeping pokemon lead her here, so she had no other leads.

Was it possible that he had tried to fly over the ocean to get away from her? She turned towards the sea, fidgeting nervously. He'd have no idea where he was going, and there was no way he'd be able to survive long enough to make it to the next continent, even if he did.

"Darkrai? Y-you don't have to run away from me!" She called, very aware of the fact that her voice had yet to go back to normal. She couldn't hide the shakiness of her voice, and it still cracked from crying. Would the obvious distress entice him to come out? Would he think she was faking it?

"I don't know how much you heard, but it was obviously enough for you to run." She said, speaking levelly and trying desperately to bring her voice back under control. "But... if you heard our argument, you _must've_ noticed that I was defending you! Cresselia isn't here, and you know I don't want to hurt you! You believe me, don't you?"

She stood in silence, the rise and fall of the ocean was the only response. How badly had they screwed this up? Was he angry? Hurt? Betrayed? Scared?

Did he want to run away? Or get revenge for lying?

She wanted to believe that he was good enough now to not want to hurt her. That he cared enough despite the betrayal to not try and attack her. Despite her hopes, her tails coiled dangerously behind her, lashing anxiously in anticipation of a fight.

Nikko bit her lip and grimaced. "I want to tell you the truth... the whole truth. You know too much to bother hiding it anymore. Come out and we can talk about this. You don't have to be alone this time."

Once again, there was no response.

Was he not here after all? Where else could he be? Had he truly tried to flee out into the ocean?

"Darkrai..." She sat in the sand defeatedly. "Please... Come back..."

She lowered her head, helplessness overcoming her. What if he died trying to cross the sea? What if he survived, and started trying to destroy the world again? What if she was forced to be his enemy again? Why was she doomed to lose everyone that meant something to her? She had almost started to truly care about him... and now there was nothing she could do to make him understand...

Inexplicably, she felt herself dozing off. Nothing about her train of thought made her tired, nor did the fear and anxiety in her heart lead her to feeling drowsy. Yet seemingly against her will, she shut her eyes, and collapsed onto the sand.

* * *

 _"My original plan ended in failure." Darkrai admitted, his face emotionless despite the clear annoyance in his tone. Nikko realised very suddenly that Darkrai wasn't simply a good impersonator. He was a good actor in general- he could hide his emotions well, and his lifeless, controlled expression did nothing but make a shiver run down her spine._

 _"That's why... that's why you decided to get rid of Nikko and Hana first this time! So they wouldn't be an impediment on your scheming!" Cresselia accused, a disgusted look on her face. She blinked in realization. "That's why you tried to break their spirit... Even going so far as to use an imposter of me!"_

 _Darkrai gave no response, and he was so motionless that if she didn't know any better, Nikko would think he was a statue. This... this was the person responsible for her memory loss?_

 _"Even now... you lured us here... So you could be rid of us all in one fell swoop!" Cresselia gasped, as if her own words had shocked her._

 _"..." Darkrai blinked, suddenly alive again. "Very good. I did indeed intend to do just what you say."_

 _Hana gulped, and the three took a step back, wary of an impending attack. Nikko peered over at her partner, seeing the fear in her face. It had been so long since Hana had last seemed so scared..._

 _"But... I've had a change of heart."_

 _The three blinked in surprise, their attention draw back to him. He placed a delicate hand on his chest, over where his heart would be. 'If he had one.' Nikko thought bitingly._

 _"So... Nikko. Hana. Both of you are brave. You've shown great initiative. To be rid of you forever... Seems like a tragic waste. You've both shown so much promise... Why not join me?"_

 _"What?" Hana gaped in shock. Nikko's eyes felt like they'd bulge out of her head. Wh... what?_

 _Darkrai suddenly dropped his emotionless mask, and instead a gentle, friendly look filled his eyes. "Why not join me... in ruling a world full of darkness?"_

 _"What!?" Hana barked, taking a disbelieving step back._

 _"R-rule the world... with Darkrai!?" Nikko breathed softly. What in the world made him think that they would even consider it?_

 _Darkrai moved closer, hovering lower so as to look smaller. "It is entirely possible if we three band together. Well? Will you join me?" He reached a hand out to them, welcoming. Beckoning._

 _"Oh, Nikko! Hana! Don't believe his lies!" Cresselia turned to face her teammates a spark of panic in her eyes. Did she really think that they would...?_

 _Hana hesitated. Her attention flickered back and forth between Darkrai and Cresselia._

 _"Hana! Are you listening!?" Cresselia snapped, her eyes going wide with shock._

 _"...Maybe Darkrai... is right." Hana murmured, dropping her head so nobody could see her face._

 _"No, Hana!" Cresselia gasped._

 _"What are we kidding, we don't stand a chance against Darkrai anyway! It's pointless to resist. Joining Darkrai... It may be the best thing to do."_

 _"Hana! Wh-why?" Nikko mumbled in disbelief as Hana defeatedly trudged up to stand at Darkrai's side. Nikko was unable to speak above a whisper, even though she wanted dearly to call out for her beloved partner to snap out of it. How could this be happening...?_

 _"Mwahaha... You chose wisely, Hana. Very practical of you." Darkrai laughed softly before turning to Nikko. "Now, Nikko. What will you do? When you are one of us... Our first order of business will be Cresselia there. The three of us shall get rid of her together."_

 _Cresselia reeled back, her breathing becoming frantic, the possibility that her allies may very well turn against her becoming all the more real. "Wh-what did you say!?"_

 _"Now, Nikko. Come, join us here." Darkrai said, his voice soft yet demanding. Like a disappointed parent that knows better._

 _Cresselia turned to her, desperation in her eyes. "Don't go... Nikko!"_

 _"Please come here, Nikko."_

 _"Hana!" Cresselia and Nikko blinked in surprise at Hana's sudden words. Was she really willing to do this..?_

 _"If you won't join us, Nikko... Darkrai surely won't want just me... He'll get rid of me..." Hana seemed on the brink of tears. She was so afraid..._

 _"Hana..." Nikko frowned sadly. Nikko stepped forwards, standing directly before Darkrai. He towered menacingly over her, his huge size even more intimidating than Dusknoir had been. He seemed to notice, as he bent down to be more level with her, his hand lowering to the ground. Still welcoming, still beckoning. If he wanted, he could reach out and touch her, but he dared not try._

 _"Your choice, Nikko? Will you join us?" His voice was almost a whisper, a gentle sound that promised her love and security. His hand moved closer, insistent._

 _"..." Nikko hesitated, her eyes gazing up into his for a moment. When she saw only gentle kindness, her stomach churned and her eyes moved down to stare despondently at the ground._

 _"The world of darkness is going to be wonderful, Nikko... " Hana murmured, and Nikko blinked up at her in surprise. What..?_

 _"You see? Your trusted partner has seen the truth. Come. Will you not rule the world with us? And you shall... reign as lord in the world of darkness." Darkrai promised._

 _Nikko gazed down at his hand, but she didn't move. She couldn't bring herself to speak._

 _"Now, Nikko. Consider your answer carefully. Join me and Hana... We'll rule the world together!" Darkrai's voice became insistent, the soft gentleness being replaced by excitement._

 _"..." Nikko opened her mouth but no words came out. She raised her paw, but she couldn't bring herself to lower it into his hand. "My... My answer is..."_

 _"DON'T, NIKKO! DON'T BE FOOLED!"_

 _Nikko flinched back, stepping back from Darkrai and shutting her eyes. Disorientation came over her, and she struggled to stay standing._ 'That- that voice just now... Hana!?' _Nikko shook her head. '_ Th- that's it! This is all... this is all...'

 _"THIS IS ALL... A NIGHTMARE!"_

 _"Gaah!"_

 _Nikko suddenly felt as if she had deen dunked in ice water, her eyes shooting open and blinking owlishly at the one who hovered before her. It was Darkrai, and he was keeled over, holding his stomach after the harsh Fire Fang she had hit him with. They were still in the Dark Crater, but Nikko suddenly realized that this wasn't how she remembered it._

 _She turned her head to the left and the right, realizing that not only was she alone- with Hana and Cresselia ominously missing- but she was also a Ninetales, not a Vulpix. Nikko blinked. She was still dreaming, wasn't she..?_

 _She turned to face Darkrai, who had yet to recover from her attack. He squinted up at her from his collapsed place on the ground._

 _Wait. Was that...?_

 _"Darkrai?" Nikko blinked hopefully. Was it him? Was he here? The real him?_

 _"So that's what I was like." He hissed painfully, sitting up and hesitantly removing his hand from his stomach. The Dark Crater slowly fizzled away into nothingness, and so did Darkrai's wound._

 _The void surrounded them, shimmering with dull colours that pulsed and shifted randomly._

 _Darkrai continued to sit on the nonexistent ground, moving his hands to massage his head as if it was now in pain._

 _"...Did you see my memory?" Nikko asked softly._

 _Darkrai nodded, covering his face with his hands. He almost seemed ashamed. "I really_ did _try to destroy the world. I... I could feel the hatred inside him, the anger... the darkness. It's the same darkness I feel hiding inside me everyday... I... " He peered up at her through his hands. "I don't know how to feel anymore."_

 _Nikko sighed, sitting down onto the nothingness. "I'm glad you're here," she said, smiling at him sadly. His hands slowly fell from his face. "You are?"_

 _She nodded. "I was afraid you'd get yourself hurt. I'm glad that you..." She shook her head. That wasn't important now. "I'll tell you everything you want to know. I'm... sorry. You shouldn't have found out like this."_

 _Darkrai was silent, and he gazed down into the endless void for a long while, collecting his thoughts._

 _"...I understand." He gazed sadly at her. "It would have been stupid to tell me."_

 _He shook his head._

 _"I just... never suspected that I would've been that dangerous." He sighed. "What happened after that? In your memory?"_

 _Nikko hummed. It was very easy to recall. Even after all these centuries, she still remembered it clear as day. "You ambushed us. You had some lackeys hiding out, and when I refused to join you, the whole group jumped us and we had to fight you off."_

 _Darkrai turned away. "I see. Did you... win?"_

 _Nikko frowned at the memory. "Yes. You were very angry about that, and opened a Dimensional Hole in hopes of escaping to a time where me and Hana were long since dead. Y'know, to avoid any further interference."_

 _Darkrai blinked in realization, his gaze quickly jumping back onto hers. He said nothing, but she knew what he was asking._

 _"Palkia- uhm, someone else- showed up, as you were travelling through time. He attacked the Dimensional Hole and it shattered, with you inside it. The last I ever heard from you was a scream of pain." She recalled the sound, and how it was the exact same scream she had heard only a short few days ago._

 _It had only been a few moments for him..._

 _"So that's how I lost my memory... And I did that exact same thing to you?"_

 _Nikko nodded. "Yes. When I was travelling back in time to save the world, from the darkness you drenched it in. You tried to stop me."_

 _He flinched and hid his face behind one of his hands again. The sight made a bitter smile twitch at Nikko's lips._

 _"I don't want to be like that. Never again. I don't ever want to hurt you."_

 _Nikko laughed softly. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." She moved to sit closer to him, smiling sweetly._

 _He lowered his hand and looked up at her sheepishly. "I don't know how you can stand me. Why didn't you kill me when you discovered me in the woods? Why did you defend me against Cresselia when she was right about me all along?"_

 _Nikko tilted her head, her reply only a gentle smile. One of her tails reached over and wrapped around his wrist, pulling it forwards. She raised her paw and placed it into his palm. His fingers instinctively gripped it._

 _He blinked at her in confusion. Nikko shook her head. "All those years ago, I would've rather died than align myself with you."_

 _Darkrai looked away, ashamed, but it only took a moment before his gaze was drawn back to his hand. He stared at her paw as it sat in his grip, sturdy and without an ounce of hesitation._

 _He peered back up at her. "You..."_

 _Nikko giggled and tilted her head. "It's amazing how things change, huh?"_

 _Nikko's soft giggling erupted into full on laughter when, in realizing what she was implying, Darkrai burst into tears and wrapped his arms around her neck, snuggling up to her like she was a lifeline._

 _It was the happiest she had been in ages._

* * *

Nikko awoke to the sound of the ocean. It was still nighttime, but feeling sand pressed into her fur as the ocean rose and fell in the background was all too familiar. She lifted her head and blinked her eyes open.

Laying next to her was Darkrai, his eyes half-lidded as he too awakened. His hand was laid over her paw, and when he realised this, he quickly pulled it away in embarrassment.

The two sat up in silence, both prefering to stare out at the ocean than look at each other. A weight seemed to have lifted from Nikko's heart. The idea of sitting on the beach with someone besides Hana was becoming a less painful thought.

"...Looking back, I don't think you actually told me why you spared me when you found me in the woods." Darkrai mumbled.

Nikko shrugged. "What I told you back when you first woke up wasn't exactly a full lie. But I'll add that... When I lost my memory, someone from my past judged me for what I had no memory of. He tried to... _kill_ me, for something I had no memory of. And he _knew_ that."

Darkrai shifted beside her. "You didn't want to be like him."

She nodded. "Yes."

The two basked in the silence for a while longer. Darkrai must've gotten cold at some point, as he sidled up next to Nikko and leaned into her warmth. Or- perhaps he simply wanted to be close to her. Nikko smiled in amusement and leaned back into him. The thought warmed her heart more than she expected it to. It was a little scary, but it was mostly comforting. She felt like maybe- just maybe- she could trust him.

Why was that thought so unfamiliar for her now? Had it really been that long?

"Nikko?" She and Darkrai jumped at the sudden new voice. The two whirled around to find it belonged to Cresselia. She had been approaching cautiously, but stopped when their eyes fell on her. It seemed like she hadn't noticed Darkrai through the blackness of the night until he moved, and his presence made her freeze in place. "Darkrai."

She shook her head, trying to make herself less tense. "So... you found him?"

Nikko nodded and smiled encouragingly, wordlessly letting her know that things had gone well. Cresselia exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness." Nikko wasn't sure how Darkrai would feel about the psychic-types presence, but as far as she was concerned, everything was sorted out.

Nikko snuck a peek at Darkrai, and while he did seem wary, he also had a guilty look in his eye. Perhaps he was thinking about Nikko's memory. He had threatened to kill her, after all.

Cresselia hovered closer. "We should be getting back, huh? It's quite late, and you two need your rest."

Darkrai raised an eyebrow. "Don't you... still want to get rid of me?"

Cresselia hesitated, her eyes flickering over to Nikko. Nikko smiled at her, letting her see how at peace she felt. Cresselia smiled back. "No." She said, smiling at Darkrai in a way she clearly never thought she would. "Nikko has convinced me."

Her smile fell and she looked away with a sigh. "I was wrong to judge so quickly."

Darkrai humphed, crossing his arms. "I would've done the same thing, so..."

Cresselia chuckled. "Of course you would've. Now come on, I'm exhausted."

The walk back to the guild was quiet, but it was a welcomed silence. Nikko basked in the calm of the night once more, happy that the cries of fear from the sleeping pokemon were extinguished. The stars above twinkled merrily, and the cool breeze that ruffled her fur was like a gentle caress. It was amazing to know that Darkrai would be happy to live in a world like this, instead of a world of darkness.

Nikko took a glance at him as he hovered at her side, but she quickly looked away again, flushing a little. While she had been admiring the beauty of the evening, he had been admiring her.

She had been in his position before. She was his Hana, so she knew what he was feeling.

And she felt it too.

* * *

"I'm glad things went well last night," Manaphy said lightly as they packed up their hay bed. Soon, Manaphy would be moved back to their room, and the guild would be renovated with a new room for Darkrai all to himself, far away from the apprentices. Nikko wouldn't mind always keeping a lunar wing on hand if it meant Darkrai would be nearby.

A part of her wondered why he couldn't just share her room, like Hana used to. She shook her head, embarrassed. They were not nearly close enough for that.

"Me too. I've grown to like him far too much." Nikko said with a laugh. "It's quite the inconvenience."

Manaphy grinned. "I don't see a problem with it. I haven't seen you as happy as you were last night in decades. If he makes you happy, then I'm sure you can deal with any of his shenanigans."

Nikko breathed in amusement. "You're saying that now, but just wait," she stood, brushing any remaining hay from her fur and peering in a mirror to make sure she was looking fit to stand before her apprentices. "This'll continue to be quite the hassle on our already busy schedule."

Manaphy laughed, moving to step out of the room. "Probably." The water-type slipped out the door in order to wake the apprentices, and Nikko sighed softly to herself. Redirecting her brain back to work would be a bit disorienting after all the excitement of last night. But without the ever-looming threat of potential disaster on the horizon, she supposed it'd be easier to focus now.

Plus, she was feeling better than she had felt in a long time. She shut her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. She could do this. She wouldn't fall apart after all.

"Guildmaster! It's time for morning briefing!" Manaphy called, peeking their head into the room.

Nikko looked into her reflection for a moment. She looked... tired. Nikko almost laughed at her own deduction. "Coming, I'll be right there." She replied, standing and leaving the room with her child in tow.

It filled Nikko with relief to see her guild members grouped before her, just as tired and casual as they always were. None were aware of the panic that went down last night, and knowing that made Nikko feel a bit more confident. She had solved the problem, and everything would be okay. None of her precious recruits had anything to worry about.

To her surprise, however, Darkrai was nowhere to be seen. Nikko had wanted to acknowledge him specifically before the group, but seeing as he wasn't here, things would be slightly more complicated.

"Manaphy?" She asked, leaning down to murmur at her child, "where's Darkrai?"

Manaphy shrugged. "Cresselia went out to town the moment I woke her, but I know she didn't bring Darkrai with her. Last I saw, Darkrai was in his room."

It wasn't like any of them were particularly interested in properly enrolling him in the guild quite yet, so Nikko supposed it wasn't that surprising that he was absent. Still, the briefing could not wait for him to join them, so Nikko went along with her plan anyway. She lifted her head and set her shoulders, looking over her apprentices with an air of authority that drew their gazes.

"As you all know, we've been housing a Pokemon who was unfortunate enough to have lost his memory. Deciding his fate was difficult, and I'm sure you're all still curious about him."

A wave of hesitant nods passed through the group. After mentioning Darkrai, Nikko had drawn their full attention. She was a bit shocked, half expecting them not to care. Clearly his appearance was odd enough to garner discussion and intrigue from the bunch. Even Mawile seemed to perk up in interest at the mention of him.

"It has been decided that he will make permanent residence here. Whether he joins our ranks or not is still up in the air. But you all are now permitted to interact with him in your off time, seeing as he's no longer confused about his future. I hope you all take the time to get to know him." The guildmembers collectively nodded, an excited air filling the room. Nikko couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm. "That is all." She said, nodding her head, and the group dispersed.

The guild filled with the sound of energetic chatter, and Manaphy turned to Nikko with an inquisitive grin. "You're really sure? He's definitely going to be staying with us now?"

Nikko nodded. "I'm sure. He's proved himself."

Manaphy smiled at her in relief. "I'm glad. You really deserve it." They smiled at her brightly and promptly turned away, going about their daily task. Nikko blinked after them. What did they mean by that?

* * *

When Nikko visited Darkrai's room, she was surprised to find it empty. Besides his panicked flight last night, Darkrai hadn't been one to go and do his own thing. He usually waited for Nikko to come and get him, so his absence shocked her. Nikko tried to shrug it off. He had proven himself trustworthy as far as she was concerned; he was allowed to have a longer leash. She just wondered what he was doing.

Perhaps he was getting a proper look around? He had yet to really explore the guild, especially on his own. He hadn't gotten any chances to try and bond with any of her apprentices either (although that had been her intent at the time), so Nikko supposed he was allowed a bit of time to himself for a change. He deserved it.

Satisfied, Nikko returned to her room with the intention of quickly retrieving her bag. She was planning to set out on a few item retrieval missions.

Upon entering her room however, she found herself face to face with a Dimensional Hole. It pulsed and shifted eerily in her room, glowing a subtle navy blue.

For a moment, Nikko panicked. What was _this_ doing here!? When had Darkrai remembered how to make Dimensional Holes?

Nikko shut the door behind her and started pacing back and forth, her tails thrashing violently. What time period did he go to? Was he coming back? Should she follow him to make sure he didn't mess anything up? He had no idea how time travel worked! He could accidentally erase himself from existence!

Before she could think much further on what she was going to do, the Dimensional Hole shimmered and erupted in a burst of light. Out of the light, a dark figure emerged.

"Oh thank goodness!" Nikko sighed in relief as Darkrai stepped out of the Dimensional Hole, a disappointed look on his face.

"What did you think you were _doing?_!" Nikko yelled in utter disbelief. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Darkrai seemed surprised to find her waiting for him. He peered around worriedly. "How long was I gone? I hope it wasn't too long..."

Nikko shook her head. "You were barely gone at all- but what were you doing? What were you _thinking?_ You don't know how time travel works! You could've hurt yourself!"

Darkrai wilted, the Dimensional Hole closing with a flash behind him. "I- I'm sorry. I just really wanted it to be a surprise..."

Nikko frowned in confusion. "Wanted what to be a surprise?"

Darkrai held out his hand to her, and only then did she notice that he was holding something. Nikko gasped when she realized what it was. "Wh... what..? Is that Hana's Verdant Bow...? Wh-where did you get this?" She stuttered in utter disbelief.

They had lost the bow after Hana died... It was Hana's favourite item, and Nikko had been devastated to not be able to keep it as a reminder of her.

Darkrai shifted nervously. "Just... Here. I want you to have it."

Tears suddenly stung in Nikko's eyes as she smiled up at Darkrai. "I... I don't know what to say... this- this means so much to me..."

She reached up with her paw to take it, but the moment she touched it she was overcome with an intense wave of dizziness. "Uhg!" Nikko keeled over, paw dropping to the ground and the bow along with it. The dizziness pounded painfully at her mind like a bad headache.

"Nikko! Wh-what's wrong? Are you okay?" Darkrai called, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Nikko could barely hear him, or feel his hand. She was so dizzy she thought she would throw up.

 _"Nikko. Do you hear me?"_

Nikko gasped, her eyes going wide. Was that...? That voice! It was...!

 _"I love you, Nikko. Forever and always. Nothing can tear us apart, not even death. You know that, don't you? I love you. Goodbye for now, my dear."_

The dizziness faded along with the voice, and Nikko was left with her mind swimming with innumerable questions.

"Nikko? Are you okay now?" Darkrai's voice finally broke through the haze, and Nikko lifted her head. It was hard to think, she was so heavily taxed.

Hana...? Was that... Hana? But how..?

"Ahg!" Nikko groaned, clenching her teeth when the dizziness returned. It was stronger this time, and she stumbled over her own feet. She didn't notice when Darkrai caught her, holding her up with his arms wrapped around her chest. He was speaking, but she couldn't hear anything. It was too fuzzy, her brain was swirling too much.

This was... this was..!

The Dimensional Scream!

* * *

 _Darkrai wasn't sure whether this time period was what he was looking for. Creating a Dimensional Hole was a lot less mathematical and a lot more conceptual than he expected. Knowing the exact time and place wasn't necessary, he just needed to know generally where he wanted to be. At least, that's how it seemed to work, but he wouldn't be sure until he looked around._

 _He peered around himself, finding the beach that he emerged at to be deserted, and it was totally unfamiliar to the beach he was used to. There was a saltwater cavern to his left, and a pathway that lead up a hill to his right. '_ Nowhere to go but up, I guess.' _He thought with a shrug, shrinking into the shadows cast by the nearby trees and slinking through them. It would be best if nobody saw him._

 _Upon reaching a crossroads he looked around, wondering where he was supposed to go from here. Everything was so unfamiliar and new, he had half a mind to explore the area for a while. '_ No. I can't dawdle _,' he chastised himself,_ 'I have a job to do.'

 _Still, he had no idea which way he was supposed to go, so he peered around for some sort of clue. A sign stood across from where he hid, so he made sure nobody was approaching, and rose out of the shadows to get a closer look._

 _'← Treasure town.' Read one of the signs. Darkrai hummed thoughtfully. That sounded promising._

 _"Wh-what!? Darkrai!?"_

Darkrai jumped and spun around, finding an old Bibarel blinking owlishly up at him. How had he managed to sneak up on him? Darkrai didn't waste a second before shrinking back into a shadow, hoping that the small normal-type would think he was just seeing things.

 _"U-uh oh! I've gotta warn Hana!" The Bibarel squeaked, rushing off into Treasure town in a hurry._

 _'Well, that could've gone better... but at least I've got a lead.' Darkrai thought wryly, sneaking off after Bibarel. The small Pokemon ran straight through Treasure town as fast as his old legs could take him, and Darkrai raised an eyebrow curiously as he passed right through. Did they not live in the town at all?_

 _On the farthest outskirts of town, there came a cliffside that Darkrai had spied from the beach. A flag waved proudly in the wind, standing beside a neat little hole in the ground. It was quaint, Darkrai supposed._

 _Bibarel scampered down the stairs, and Darkrai slipped into his shadow so as to not be left behind._

 _"Hana! Hana, I got urgent news, yup yup!" He announced as he reached the bottom step._

 _Darkrai could barely believe what he was seeing. He had seen Hana in dreams before, but she had always been so youthful and full of life. Here, she was lounging on her straw bed, looking so old and exhausted that Darkrai wondered if she was even the same person. She was alone in the open and airy home, the cool breeze of the ocean ruffling her faded fur._

 _'_ Well,' _Darkrai thought,_ 'at least this means I got the time period right.'

 _Hana lifted her head at Bibarels arrival, her eyes too alert for her age. She narrowed them seriously. "What is it, Bibarel?"_

 _Bibarel took a moment to collect himself, keeling over on the wooden floor to catch his breath. "Hah... I'm not so fit for running like that anymore, by golly..."_

 _The serious look in her face fading, Hana giggled lightheartedly. "You were never made for running, Bibarel."_

 _Bibarel was inclined to protest, "Excuse me! I was quite the speedster back in my day!"_

 _Hana laughed harder, but the act made her breath stutter and she coughed instead. "No you weren't... haha..."_

 _Bibarel huffed. "Look, just- there's more important things afoot! I saw Darkrai!"_

 _Hana's amusement slowly faded away as she realized what Bibarel said. "Wh... what? Where?"_

 _"Down at the crossroads! He was just sitting there and reading the signpost like it was a regular thing to do! But when he realized that I spotted him- he disappeared!" Bibarel waved his arms wildly, clearly a bit freaked out._

 _Hana hummed. "It's possible that you were just seeing things."_

 _Bibarel shook his head "No, no siree! I_ saw _him!"_

 _Hana bit her lip nervously, clearly not wanting to doubt her friend. "Well, I can't do anything. I haven't even gone out on an exploration in months... I can barely stand..." She fidgeted weakly. "We'll need to contact Nikko... ah, but she's rescuing some of our teammates in Happy Outlook... its so far away, it'll take ages to get the message to her..."_

 _Darkrai's attention was peaked at the mention of Nikko. This... was this the week that Hana died on? The week that Nikko was busy, and returned to find Hana long since passed?_

 _If he wasn't hiding in a shadow, he would have jumped up and down victoriously. The time travel worked! It worked perfectly!_

 _"I'll go get a message sent out to Nikko right away! I'll tell her it's urgent!" Bibarel announced, rushing out of the house before Hana could protest._

 _"Ah-! Oh..." Hana sighed. "But... it could've been a_ different _Darkrai... there's more than one..." She shook her head. "I just... I just hope it wasn't the same one..."_

 _Darkrai grinned to himself. That sounded like his que!_

 _"Unfortunately..." he said, trying to sound as spooky as possible. "It was."_

 _Hana gasped as he slowly rose out of the shadows, gaping at him in barely restrained fear. "Y-you..!" she stuttered, unable to say much more. Her reaction filled him with a dark kind of satisfaction._

 _Darkrai blinked. Ashamed of himself, he ducked his head. "Sorry, I just really wanted to see the look on your face. I'm not... not_ him. _"_

 _Hana blinked. Slowly, she shut her gaping mouth and narrowed her eyes. "You... you're not?"_

 _He collected himself and shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Well. Technically I_ am _him. But y'know, memory loss... I like to think I'm a different person now."_

 _Hana raised here eyebrows in surprise. "Really? So you lost your memory after all?" He nodded. She tilted her head, inspecting him. "...What do you want from me, then?"_

 _Darkrai took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing thoughts. This was it. He needed to convince her, he needed her to trust him..._

 _How in the world was he going to do that?_

 _"I'm from... the future. When I lost my memory, I had been traveling to about 300 years from now. Nikko found me, and... well, we're... friends? Now?" He wasn't sure what to label their relationship as. They had never outright established that they were friends. Were they simply allies? He felt like there was more between them than that. He wasn't even sure if friends was enough to describe how he felt about Nikko, but he knew of no other words._

 _"A-anyway, she... she still misses you really bad, even now. Even after so many years. And she told me that she- she was away when you died. She never got to say goodbye properly." Darkrai took a deep breath. "I came here because I thought- maybe you'd like to... come with me to the future? So Nikko can get to see you one last time?" Darkrai fiddled with his hands nervously, unable to look over at Hana's face._

 _Sure he had seen Hana in memories, but it felt so weird to actually be talking to her. It felt like talking to a ghost._

 _When she gave him no response, Darkrai finally found the courage to peer cautiously up at her. She seemed to be analyzing him, possibly searching him to deception or lies. When she only saw nerves and good intentions, her gaze lightened up. Hana smiled sweetly at him._

 _"You're so different from what I remember. You really_ are _a different Darkrai to the one I knew." Darkrai eased up at her words, finding the confidence to stop fumbling with his hands._

 _Hana chuckled weakly, coughing intermittently. "Nikko... you must really care about her, huh?"_

 _Darkrai nodded. "I do. She's so miserable without you, I just want to see her happy."_

 _Hana sighed, shutting her eyes tiredly. "I'm sorry, but... I can't go with you."_

 _"What!?" Darkrai yelped. "B-but you_ have _to!"_

 _Hana shook her head sadly. "Travelling through time is very taxing for normal pokemon. I'm already so weak, I don't think I could survive the journey."_

 _Darkrai hovered closer, clenching his fists, desperately trying to keep from exploding at her. He kept his distance, holding himself back. "But she_ needs you! _I'm here, you're here, and we can do something! You can make her_ happy! _"_

 _He needed her to understand! He couldn't fail this! He wouldn't let himself fail!_

 _Hana shook her head, unfazed by his barely restrained frustration. "There's nothing I can do. Coming back for just an hour, or a day, it would only reopen the wounds. And I have family here, people I want to have with me when I pass... even if Nikko can't make it..." She frowned sadly at the thought of never seeing her again._

 _Darkrai deflated sadly, clenching his eyes shut with frustration. "Well, then what am I supposed to do now? I can't make her happy..." He mumbled bitingly._

 _Hana hummed thoughtfully. "Yes. You can."_

 _"Huh?" He opened his eyes, blinking down at the old Delcatty incredulously. "How?'_

 _Hana smiled softly up at him. "Here," she said, reaching up with her paw and pulling her green bow from around her neck. "Give this to her. She'll understand everything once she touches it."_

 _Darkrai took the bow and peered down at it curiously._ "I _don't understand at all."_

 _Hana laughed gently. "Don't worry. I'm sure Nikko will explain it to you."_

 _Darkrai stared down at the ribbon, wondering why it was so significant. How would this substitute for Hana herself? How would this make up for not being able to say goodbye?_

 _"Nikko. Do you hear me?" Hana mumbled softly, a smile in her voice._

 _Darkrai blinked up at her. "Huh?"_

 _"I love you, Nikko. Forever and always. Nothing can tear us apart, not even death. You know that, don't you? I love you. Goodbye for now, my dear."_

 _Darkrai furrowed his brow at her. "Nikko... isn't here." Was she senile?_

 _Hana laughed, coughing all the way, but too amused to stop herself. "I know, I know. I'm just sending her a message. If she doesn't get it however, will you tell it to Nikko for me?"_

 _Darkrai still didn't really understand, but he nodded all the same. "Okay. I'll tell her."_

 _"Now go, before anyone else sees you." Hana shooed him with her tail._

 _"Okay... uhm." He paused awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Goodbye, Hana."_

 _"Goodbye, Darkrai." Hana smiled, and it looked as if she was young again._

* * *

Nikko gasped for air as if she had been underwater. She panted in exhaustion for a moment, blinking away the tears that had started to fall from her eyes.

She slowly became aware of where she was, and flushed when she realized that she was sitting across Darkrai's lap, as he combed a shaky hand through the fur on her head.

"Nikko!" He breathed in relief. "What happened? You- I don't know, I think you fainted!"

Nikko let out a bark of a laugh, her voice shaky and wet from the tears. "No... No I didn't faint."

Her mind was spinning. Hana... Darkrai had gone to see Hana. He had wanted to make her happy... And Hana. Oh, _Hana!_ Everything about her was just like how she remembered it.

Nikko choked though her tears, smiling brilliantly. "It was the Dimensional Scream."

She moved to get out of Darkrai's lap, but he had no intention of letting her. He wrapped both arms around her neck, not wanting to let her go. "What's that?"

Nikko looked away, trying to calm her racing thoughts enough to speak. "It's a... special ability I have. When I touch certain items, I get a vision about that items past, or future."

Darkrai let out a soft breath of amazement. "Woah... so that's why she..." he looked at her in incredulity. "Wait. Did you see what I did?"

Nikko laughed, trying to wipe her face. "I did." She shifted in his grasp so she could face him properly. One of her tails wrapped around his back. "Hana must've known I'd see it..."

But wait... Nikko's smile dropped from her face, a contemplative look overcoming it.

"But... there's a catch to my ability..." She whispered, staring down at the green bow in her paws.

Darkrai tilted his head innocently. "What is it?"

"For the Dimensional Scream to activate... I need the presence of a trusted partner." She peered up into his eyes, and found that she could barely see his face through the foggy tears in her eyes. "Darkrai, I... I haven't had a vision since Hana died..."

And she _knew_... Hana knew that she'd have a vision. Hana knew she'd get to see her one last time, just by giving Darkrai that ribbon. But how? How could she have known so easily?

"Are you... are you implying that... _I'm_ your new trusted partner?" Darkrai breathed, his eyes wide and suddenly watery.

Nikko nodded. "Darkrai... thank you. Thank you so much... This is the best gift you could've ever given me..." her voice cracked as she spoke, but she didn't care. She wrapped all her tails around him, and he gripped her in the tightest embrace he had ever given her.

 _'Hana... thank you.'_ Nikko shut her eyes, a heavy weight finally lifting from her heart. When was the last time she felt this light...?

"Nikko, I... I love you." Darkrai mumbled into her shoulder. Nikko laughed wetly again, wiping her eyes on her paws even though new tears quickly replaced them.

She pulled back and gazed into his eyes. So much admiration. So much _love._ He had done all of this just for her.

"I know you do," Nikko laughed, "and I love you too."

Maybe now, she could finally move on. Ever since Darkrai had shown up, she felt conflicted. But above all the confusion, she knew she cared about him. Nikko couldn't ever ask for anything else.

They could move on together. No matter how lost Nikko felt, Darkrai was lost too. At least they could be lost together.


End file.
